Sr        2,  6 


LEND 

LOCAL  NO. 


.IBRAR 


OF  C. 
VANCOUVER  B.  C. 


> 


UNIVERSAL 
EVOLUTION 


Author  of 

"  The  Physical  Basis  of  Mind  and  Morals  " 

' '  The  Chattanooga  Campaign  " 

"Echoes  of  the  Civil  War" 


RICHARD   G.   BADGER 

THE  GORHAM  PRESS 
BOSTON 


COPYRIGHT    1913    BY    RICHARD    G.    BADGER 


All  Rights  Reserved 

B 

S/S" 


The  Cor  ham  Press,  Boston,   U.  S.  A. 


CONTENTS 

Chapter  Page 

I    Inorganic  Evolution 9 

11    Organic  Evolution 33 

777     The  Method 68 

IV    Mental  and  Social  Evolution 105 

V  Mental  and  Social  Evolution  (continued} . . .  132 

VI    Mind  is  Function 157 

F77    Mind  is  Function  (continued) 177 

F777    Self 206 

IX    Ethics  and  Altruism 238 

X    Ethics  and  Altruism  (continued) 257 

XI    A  Final  Word..                                    280 


UNIVERSAL  EVOLUTION 


UNIVERSAL  EVOLUTION 

CHAPTER  I 
INORGANIC  EVOLUTION 

SCHOOLS  OF  PHILOSOPHY. — During  the  last 
fifty  years  the  theory  of  Evolution  has  pro- 
duced a  revolution  in  the  thoughts  of  the 
civilized  world.  Scientists  have  generally 
adopted  the  theory,  and  at  present,  after  years  of 
analytic  study  of  all  its  features,  are  dividing  them- 
selves into  two,  or  more  schools.  But  in  all  the  divi- 
sions there  seems  to  be  no  denial  of  the  basic  principle, 
but  merely,  as  usual  upon  all  theories,  a  division  of 
men  along  the  lines  of  materialism  and  idealism.  The 
aspect,  which  such  a  theory  presents  to  the  brain,  de- 
pends upon  the  organization  of  the  brain.  To  those 
brains  which,  before  the  renaissance  of  the  idea  of 
evolution,  were  not  wholly  in  accord  with  finality,  the 
theory  now  presents  a  material  aspect, — one  that  can 
be  called  mechanistic.  On  the  contrary,  to  that  brain 
which  was  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  old  order  of 
ideality,  or  mysticism,  it  would  take  the  form  of  a 
creative  principle,  in  some  way  guided  by  some  power 
either  abstract,  or  personal.  There  are  many  forms  of 
these  two  schools  of  evolutionists.  This  is  natural,  be- 
cause no  two  brains  are  alike  in  structure,  and  there- 
fore are  dissimilar  in  ideas.  The  mechanistic  school  is 
that  of  Darwin,  Huxley,  Haeckel,  Carl  Vogt,  etc.  These 
philosophers  take  for  granted  matter  and  motion,  with- 


8  UNIVERSAL   EVOLUTION 

out  trying  to  trace  the  origin  of  either,  and  assuming 
nebulas,  trace  the  evolution  of  forms  from  these,  by 
condensation.  Another  set  of  philosophers  try  to  re- 
verse that  process,  by  summoning  to  the  aid  of  intellect, 
something  called  intuition,  a  kind  of  enlarged  instinct, 
and  which  one  of  them  calls  a  "nebulosity  surrounding 
the  bright  core  of  intellect"  and  growing  out  of  the 
same  basis,  viz:  experience.  This  intuition  is  to  dive 
into  the  stream  of  creative  evolution  to  the  center, 
from  which  the  stream  of  becoming  starts,  and  works  as 
nature  works,  or  is  supposed  to  work,  from  a  center  of 
mobility,  and  impetus,  toward  the  circumference  where 
visible  forms  are  being  made.  It  is  difficult  for  a  brain, 
whose  habit  of  thought  has  been  along  the  lines  of  in- 
tellect alone,  to  pluck  the  meaning  of  another  brain, 
whose  peculiar  formation,  enables  it  to  go  beyond  in- 
tellect, in  accounting  for  the  universe  and  its  laws. 
Mathematics  and  logic  have  been  the  means  by  which, 
heretofore,  ordinary  men  have  reasoned  upon  material 
things.  They  have  thus  established  the  present  under- 
standing of  the  laws  of  nature,  and  naturally  apply 
the  same  methods  to  the  evolution  of  life.  But  these, 
heretofore,  have  mentioned,  not  as  a  reality,  but  as  a 
subjective  thought  only,  the  Unknowable  Absolute.  Dar- 
win reasoned  only  from  the  facts  apparent  to  the 
senses,  and  never  thought  that  the  power  beyond  ap- 
pearances could  be  used  to  any  advantage.  Spencer 
started  out  well  to  find  the  Unknowable  Absolute,  but 
stopped  short  at  the  end  of  first  part  of  First  Princi- 
ples, at  the  impassable  barrier  of  the  relativity  of  all 
things.  But,  by  means  of  the  intellect,  the  later 
philosophers  of  creative  evolution  think  they  see  other 
forms  of  consciousness  which  express  something  more 
than  symbolism  in  the  evolutionary  movement.  It  is 


INORGANIC    EVOLUTION  9 

proposed  by  them  to  bring  together  these  assumed 
forms  of  consciousness,  and  the  present  form  known  as  in- 
tellect, and  have  a  resulting  consciousness  as  wide  as  the 
universe.  If  reality  can  be  thus  conceived  in  its  genera- 
tion, and  growth,  no  one  would  be  willing  to  place  a  straw 
on  its  path.  That  is  what  finality  undertook  to  do,  in  the 
teleological  movement.  But  the  new  Creative  Evolu- 
tion repudiates  teleology,  yet,  says  the  latter  is  nearer 
the  truth  than  mechanism. 

Finality  assumes  that  a  personality,  comprehensible 
to  man,  created  the  universe  out  of  nothing.  That  is, 
everything  is  given.  But  there  is  no  nothingness.  Noth- 
ing is  a  relative  term.  If  one  tries  to  perceive,  or  con- 
ceive nothing,  he  finds  it  impossible,  because,  in  making 
the  effort  he,  himself,  is  still  existing,  or  he  could  not  be 
perceiving  it.  If  he  could  succeed  in  annihilating  both 
himself  and  notself,  then  there  would  be  no  perception, 
nor  conception  of  the  fact.  Therefore  we  use  the  word 
nothing  to  mean,  there  is  always  something.  It  is,  there- 
fore, not  logical  to  think  that  anything  was  created  out 
of  nothing. 

MONISM. — Assuming  the  eternal  existence  of  matter 
and  motion,  the  human  intellect  perceives  that  all  nature, 
— the  self  and  notself, — is  in  perpetual  change,  and  that 
such  change  evidently  has  an  order,  that  can  be  re- 
duced to  a  system,  at  least  partially  satisfactory,  to  the 
reason  of  man.  A  close  observation  of  motion  and 
matter  discloses  that  the  motion  of  the  earth,  in  the 
solar  system,  and  throughout  that  limited  portion  of 
the  universe,  so  far  brought  within  the  view  of  man, 
is  acting  in  unison.  All  movement  is  relative.  There 
is  absolute  dependence  of  every  form,  and  motion, 
upon  every  other,  throughout  the  known  realm.  A 
monistic  view  of  nature  cannot  be  avoided,  after  the 


10  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

bearing  of  certain  facts  has  been  observed.  The  simi- 
larity, between  the  action  of  the  physical  and  psychical 
law,  is  the  most  important  fact.  Inorganic  matter  is 
very  much  more  stable  than  organic.  But  it  is  very 
far  from  being  inert.  It  is  in  constant  change.  No  inor- 
ganic body  remains  the  same  for  any  long  period.  Our 
earth,  both  internally  and  externally,  is  undergoing 
constant  change.  Volcanism,  in  earthquakes  and 
eruptions,  shows  there  is  a  perpetual  readjustment  oc- 
curring internally;  and  the  surface  is  being  modified 
by  the  denudation  of  it  by  water,  wind,  frost,  and  ice. 

There  is  a  slow,  but  irresistible  uplift  of  certain 
regions,  and  in  others  a  depression  of  the  crust  of  the 
earth.  The  oceans  are  likewise  moving  in  correspond- 
ence with  the  movements  of  the  earth  at  their  bottoms, 
or  on  the  shores.  Coral  islands,  and  shore  reefs  are 
being  built  in  certain  parts,  where  there  is  more  or 
less  uplift,  or  subsidence  of  the  oceans.  These  sub- 
sidences and  uplifts  are  of  the  solid  parts  of  the  earth, 
either  of  the  continents,  or  of  the  ocean's  bottom;  and 
the  waters  adapt  themselves  to  these  changes. 

The  matter  thrown  out  by  volcanoes  builds  up  again 
some  of  the  denuded  heights,  and  this  is  being  changed 
by  the  action  of  weather  and  water  into  pliable  soil, 
and  eventually  finds  its  way  to  the  bottom  of  the  ocean. 
The  accumulation  of  debris  at  the  mouths  of  rivers  is 
the  disintegrated  rocks  of  the  mountains,  washed 
down  by  water.  When  it  attains  a  magnitude  of  suffi- 
cient weight,  there  is  apt  to  be  a  giving  way  at  the 
faults  near  the  shore  line  and  earthquakes  result,  as 
occurred  at  San  Francisco  in  1906.  Rocks  and  earth 
are  formed  of  crystals.  As  these  crystals  degenerate, 
the  atoms  of  matter  of  which  they  are  formed,  again 
begin  to  integrate,  into  new  crystallized  forms,  always 


INORGANIC    EVOLUTION  11 

bearing  a  close  resemblance  to  the  prior  form.  What 
does  this  mean?  That  these  atoms  are  not  inert,  and 
unintelligent.  They  are  always  active  and  carry  with 
them,  in  making  new  forms,  the  memory  of  former 
combinations,  just  as  surely  as  the  bee  uses  the  memory 
of  inherited  instinct,  in  the  making  of  comb  honey. 
These  atoms  not  only  have  memory,  they  have  also 
reason.  Reason  anticipates  the  future  as  if  it  were 
present ;  and  the  combination  of  atoms  of  matter  in 
building  from  the  homogeneity  of  the  nebula,  the 
heterogeneity  of  stellar  globes,  exhibits  the  same 
memory,  and  reason,  that  a  builder  of  a  house  does  in 
constructing  from  raw  materials  a  many  roomed  and 
useful  dwelling.  For,  it  is  more  than  probable  that 
every  nebula  has  before  been  in  the  solid  form.  When 
these  atoms  come  together  in  the  plastic  forms  of 
organic  matter  through  the  intermediate  adaptability 
of  oxygen,  hydrogen,  nitrogen  and  carbon,  there  re- 
sults, a  higher  degree  only,  of  this  same  reason  and 
memory,  in  a  form  we  call  life.  When,  by  a  little 
added  phosphorus  and  sulphur,  nerve  matter  is  formed, 
there  results  a  still  higher  degree  of  mobility,  which 
we  call  psychic.  But,  at  every  step,  it  is  always  the 
same  atom  that  does  the  work,  which  we  find  in  the 
nebula,  the  globe,  and  the  organic  form;  and  every- 
where it  is  found,  it  is  active,  intelligent,  doing  that 
which  appears  to  us  as  just  the  proper  thing  to  do  in 
carrying  on  its  multiplicity  of  effects  throughout 
nature.  This  is  materialistic  monism.  The  reason  of 
man  constructs  from  the  known,  the  unknown;  and 
the  atom,  in  its  tendency  to  condense,  builds  from  the 
known,  which  is  its  own  form,  the  unknown  crystal, 
globe,  cell,  and  organism.  The  atom  is  truer  in  its 
certainty,  and  ultimate  achievement,  than  the  reason 


12  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

of  man.  The  latter  is  only  the  manifestation  of  the 
action  and  intelligence  of  certain  combinations  of  the 
atom :  for  in  the  final  analysis  the  brain  of  man,  which 
produces  the  reason,  the  memory,  the  imagination,  is 
only  a  very  complex  condensation  of  the  original 
center  of  motion  called  an  atom  of  matter.  It  could  be 
called  just  as  well  an  atom  of  mind,  for  it  carries  with 
it,  in  all  its  combinations,  the  same  tendencies,  in  poten- 
tiality, that  finally  result  in  mental  phenomena  in  the 
brain  of  man.  There  is  a  oneness  in  all  its  combina- 
tions. 

M.  Henri  Poincare,  in  a  recent  lecture  stated  that  the 
objective  reality  of  the  chemical  atom  is  now  beyond 
dispute.  Every  atom  is  an  individual  to  us,  a  closed 
world,  but,  in  fact,  it  is  a  universe  of  electrons,  which 
he  compares  to  fixed  stars  and  comets. 

The  opposite  of  monism  is  dualism.  The  adherents 
of  the  latter  idea  contend  that  there  is  a  power  outside 
of  the  atom,  who  created  the  atom,  and  superintends 
all  its  actions,  and  combinations :  and  that  the  mind  of 
man  is  a  separate  and  distinct  thing  from  the  atom  of 
matter.  That  is,  that  there  are  two  principles  in  nature, 
the  one  natural,  and  the  other  supernatural. 

HUMANISM. — However,  no  view,  of  evolution,  can  be 
taken,  that  is  of  any  use  to  human  reason,  that  does  not 
include  the  value  it  has  to  humanity.  It  must  be  an 
every  day  working  hypothesis,  the  truth  of  which  con- 
sists, in  the  way  it  works  for  man.  It  must  have  a  prag- 
matic value.  "We  are  not  the  reality,  but  its  manifesta- 
tion. It  is  well,  that  our  daily  attention  is  directed  not 
to  the  primary  movement  of  atoms  in  themselves,  but  to 
their  end,  with  reference  to  human  problems.  "We  could 
not  spend  the  time  necessary,  in  contemplating  the 
minute  and  complex  movements  of  so  simple  an  act  as 


INORGANIC    EVOLUTION  13 

the  raising  of  a  finger,  and  if  the  rapid  vibrations  of 
the  ether  in  a  ray  of  light  should  be  visible,  it  would 
absorb  attention,  at  the  expense  of  the  necessary  rela- 
tion of  light  to  the  real  welfare  of  our  bodies.  This 
favorable  condition  of  our  perceptions  is  the  result  of 
the  evolution  of  mind,  or  intellect,  in  its  correspondence 
with  environment,  entirely  along  practical  lines.  We 
know  only  the  useful.  The  organs  of  sense  are  formed 
by  their  adaptation,  for  the  preservation  of  our  bodies, 
and  we  readily  recognize  only  those  phenomena  which 
contribute  to  that  end.  Whatever  the  reality  may  be, 
behind  the  phenomena,  it  would  likely  not  be  useful  if 
known  to  us,  and  therefore  is  of  no  real  importance. 
We  therefore  do  not  see  the  "thing-in-itself"  but  its 
qualities.  These  we  recognize  before  we  are  aware  of 
forms.  Color,  sound,  resistance,  are  the  first  facts  ap- 
parent to  the  baby's  senses.  They  are  perceivable  by 
their  instability.  This  instability  makes  them  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  primal  reality  of  the  universe,  which 
is  most  likely  a  flux  of  becoming ;  and  the  forms,  which 
become  visible  to  the  more  matured  brain,  are  merely 
the  emphatic  points  of  protest,  by  matter,  against  the 
positive  explosive  nature  of  the  reality.  Color,  light 
and  sound  are  perceivable;  by  their  inconceivable  and 
invisible  vibrations,  of  which  they  are  constituted:  yet 
we  fortunately  do  not  perceive  the  vibrations. 

INSTABILITY. — Every  quality  is  change,  and  we  seek 
in  vain,  anywhere  for  the  unchangeable.  The  reality 
then,  to  the  intellect,  is  the  flowing  movement  of  the 
evolution  of  all  things.  Nothing  is  stable.  Nothing  is 
ever  made,  it  is  only  being  made.  That  process  of 
being  made  is  the  ground  work  of  evolution.  The  scien- 
tist's intellect  seizes  upon  this  movement  of  matter.  By 
following  that  part  of  it,  perceptible  by  the  senses,  he 


14  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

has  formulated  a  theory  of  "a  change  of  forms  through 
the  production  of  new  configurations."  Herbert  Spen- 
cer's definition  is  "Evolution  is  the  integration  of  mat- 
ter and  the  concomitant  dissipation  of  motion,  during 
which  the  matter  passes  from  an  indefinite,  incoherent 
homogeneity  to  a  definite,  coherent  heterogeneity;  and 
during  which  the  retained  motion  undergoes  a  parallel 
transformation."  In  this  definition  there  is  no  mention 
of  his  "Unknowable  Absolute."  There  is  no  teleology, 
nor  finality.  Therefore  it  is  not  the  definition  of  an 
idealist.  We  will  discover  later  on  the  reason  why  an 
idealist  objects  to  it. 

All  history  reveals,  that  thoughtful  men  have,  for 
centuries,  pondered  upon  the  origin  of  the  universe,  but 
especially  upon  the  solar  system,  the  earth,  and  its  as- 
tonishing variety  of  organic  forms.  The  account  in 
Genesis  was  written  by  a  very  able  observer.  Consider- 
ing the  probable  want  of  scientific  knowledge,  at  that 
period  of  man's  development,  that  solution  of  the  difficult 
problem  is  the  best  that  could  be  expected.  It  attributes 
the  origin  of  everything  visible  to  a  creative  power,  and 
that,  at  first,  "the  earth  was  without  form  and  void." 
The  word  "void"  is  not  now  used  by  scientists,  but  ac- 
cording to  the  nebular  theory  the  earth  and  all  bodies 
were  without  form. 

DEFINITION  OF  EVOLUTION. — The  theory  of  evolution 
grew  out  of  the  observations  of  a  number  of  able  students 
of  natural  phenomena.  Their  studies  convinced  them 
that  matter  and  motion  could  not  be  rationally  traced 
to  any  origin,  but  that  the  globes  of  space,  and  the  or- 
ganic forms  of  the  earth,  as  well  as,  those  of  other 
globes,  if  any,  had  their  origin,  by  the  method  of  the 
apparent  laws  of  all  matter  and  motion,  by  the  con- 
densation of  matter,  from  attenuated  nebulas.  The 


INORGANIC    EVOLUTION  15 

formation  of  the  earth,  the  sun  and  all  astronomical 
bodies  has  been  studied  with  eminent  success  by  as- 
tronomers. Both  the  nebular  and  planetesimal  hy- 
potheses are  reasonable  and  acceptable.  The  study  of 
geology  has  made  great  progress.  But  biology,  or  the 
science  of  life,  on  the  earth,  is  that  part  of  evolution 
which  lies  the  closest  to  man,  and  therefore  interests  him 
more  than  all  others.  The  immense  number  of  species, 
or  life  forms,  each  being  characterized  differently  from 
other  forms,  and  each  being  descended  from  common  an- 
cestors, in  both  the  vegetable  and  animal  kingdom,  pre- 
sented to  the  intellect  of  man  a  most  profound  and 
important  study. 

ORIGIN  OF  SPECIES. — For  the  last  fifty  years  the  in- 
tellectual world  has  been  wonderfully  agitated  upon 
the  origin  of  these  species.  The  great  majority  of  inves- 
tigators and  writers  had,  prior  to  the  publication  of  the 
"Origin  of  Species"  by  Darwin  in  1859,  looked  upon 
species,  as  specially  created,  as  stated  in  Genesis,  with 
immutable  differences,  impassable  by  any  natural  pro- 
cess. In  the  light  of  the  proofs  given  by  Darwin,  of  their 
actual  mutability,  and  these  facts,  especially  that  of  ex- 
periments in  breeding,  in  domestication,  having  been 
familiar  to  the  farmer,  the  botanist,  and  the  breeders  of 
food  animals,  it  is  astonishing,  that  others  did  not  see 
the  bearing  of  the  facts,  in  the  same  way  Darwin  did. 
Darwin's  theory  is,  that  all  species  vegetable  and  animal 
have  originated  by  variations  from  the  forms  of  their 
parents,  in  the  anatomy  and  physiology  of  the  offspring, 
which  variations,  making  them  better  adapted  to  the  en- 
vironment, and  to  spread  over  a  larger  area  for  food, 
were  continued  and  increased  by  heredity.  In  this  way 
all  species  have  arisen  from  a  lowly  form,  whose  origin 
Darwin  does  not  discuss.  The  theory  and  its  proof  are 
discussed  in  future  pages  of  this  volume. 


16  UNIVERSAL   EVOLUTION 

CREATIVE  EVOLUTION. — Bergson's  observations  upon 
Spencer's  definition  of  evolution  is,  that  Spencer  takes 
things  already  evolved,  and  patches  them  together  to 
prove  evolution.  It  is  using  the  thing  to  be  proved,  as 
evidence  of  the  process.  But  Spencer  does  not  hold  that 
the  atom,  or  the  ultimate  unit  is  either  evolved,  or 
created.  The  human  intellect  cannot  account  for  matter 
and  motion.  So  the  evolutionist  begins  with  matter  and 
motion,  and  by  following  the  integrations  and  dissipa- 
tions of  them,  in  the  growth  of  vegetable  and  animal 
forms,  and  their  decay,  delineates,  what  the  intellect  per- 
ceives, in  the  method.  That  is  a  sensory  and  mechan- 
istic evolution.  But  Bergson  is  not  satisfied  with  that 
procedure.  He  says,  that  is  correct  for  intellect.  But  in- 
tellect acts  only  on  matter.  He  desires  to  go  behind  mat- 
ter, and  for  the  purpose  evokes  intuition,  as  something 
superior  to  intellect  to  penetrate  beneath  or  through 
matter  to  the  flux.  Intuition  divines  a  "vital  impetus" 
which  gives  direction  to  the  life  process,  which  is  always 
a  becoming,  a  creative  evolution.  Forms  are  only  the 
emphasized  points  of  this  supposed  flux  of  life  through 
matter,  the  latter  being  the  negative  of  life.  Matter  only 
degrades,  or  impedes  the  creative  movement.  The  anti 
intellectualism  of  Bergson  has  received  considerable  ap- 
proval in  France,  and  perhaps  in  other  countries, 
because,  heretofore  in  the  18th  and  19th  centuries  met- 
aphysical, and  other  philosophers,  derided  materialism, 
and  neglected  it.  Matter  has  been  looked  upon,  as 
Bergson  regards  it,  as  a  degradation.  Mentality  was 
not  regarded  as  the  product  of  physiology.  It  is  only  of 
late  years,  that  the  brain  has  been  given,  by  a  few 
psychologists,  as  the  substrate  of  mentality,  while  he 
who  thought  as  Hume  and  Huxley  and  Biichner  did  upon 
this  problem,  was  more  or  less  isolated  in  the  belief  of  the 


INORGANIC    EVOLUTION  17 

theory.  If  others  thought  kindly  toward  materialism, 
they  did  not  make  it  public.  In  another  volume,  the 
writer,  expressed  the  opinion  that  Spencer,  in  the  posi- 
tion lie  took  in  the  first  part  of  "First  Principles,"  re- 
garding an  "Unknowable  Absolute"  made  a  mistake,  and 
weakened  the  argument  of  the  "Synthetic  Philosophy." 
He  practically  acknowledged  as  much  in  his  "Autobiog- 
raphy. ' '  But  Bergson  thinks  that  ' '  First  Part, ' '  the  best 
of  Spencer's  work.  Of  course  when  Spencer  came  to 
the  real  work  of  writing  his  philosophy,  by  beginning  it 
with  an  exposition  of  biology,  along  the  lines  of  evolu- 
tion, he  found  it  impossible  to  retain  the  conception  of 
an  "Absolute."  His  intellect  could,  or  would  see  noth- 
ing, but  matter  and  motion,  integrating  and  disintegrat- 
ing. There  is  nothing  else  to  the  intellect.  Intellect  of 
course  only  cuts  into  matter.  Therefore  man  must 
summon  more  than  intellect  to  aid  him  if  he  desires  to 
cut  into  the  real  movement  of  becoming;  he  must  work 
from  the  center  as  nature  does.  Intuition,  the  "aurora 
around  the  core  of  intellect"  and  growing  out  of  it 
Bergson  thinks  must  be  the  proper  instrument  for  a  new 
philosophy  of  creative  evolution.  He  acknowledges, 
however,  that  he  is  unable,  as  yet,  to  give  more  than  an 
intimation  of  it.  Materialists  will  grimly  wait  for  fur- 
ther developments.  The  finalists  long  before  the  time  of 
Bergson  had  a  theory  that  intellect  is  not  usable  in  a 
system  of  philosophy.  But  Bergson  also  repudiates  them, 
not  because  they  have  started  wrong,  but  because  they 
have  gone  too  far,  and  that  they  are  too  anthropomorphic. 
He  is  compelled  to  acknowledge,  however,  that  evolution 
is  the  true  theory  of  the  cosmic  movement.  But  the 
intellect  of  Darwin,  the  materialist,  had  already  demon- 
strated this,  not  the  intuition  of  an  idealist.  The  theory 
of  Bergson,  is  that  in  the  flux  of  life,  forms  are  merely 


18  UNIVERSAL   EVOLUTION 

the  marks  of  the  flux,  and  are  so  constantly  changing 
that  they  are  of  little  importance  compared  with  the 
real  movement.  It  is  much  like  the  theory  that  the 
invisible  ether  is  the  hard  unchanging,  unimpressible 
substance  of  nature,  and  those  forms,  like  the  earth, 
which  we  have  been  calling  the  solids,  the  immutables, 
are  really  the  mutable,  the  changing,  the  mobile  part  of 
nature.  The  movement  is  the  reality,  and  not  the  forms. 
The  latter  are  in  constant  evolution,  by  a  change,  and 
their  morphology  is  governed  by  the  "vital  impetus"  in- 
herent in  the  movement  of  the  whole.  The  creative  prin- 
ciple is  the  movement  itself.  But  man  has  been  looking 
at  the  forms  only,  and  founding  his  theory  upon  them, 
calling  them  matter.  The  changes  in  these  he  calls 
"time."  Bergson  says  "The  forms,  which  the  mind 
isolates  and  stores  up  in  concepts,  are  then  only  snap- 
shots of  the  changing  reality."  Yet  they  are  the  only 
parts  of  the  general  flux  perceptible  to  the  senses,  and 
thus  the  conception  of  man  must  be  made  up  from  their 
qualities. 

"It  will  be  found  that  form  is  essentially  extended, 
inseparable,  as  it  is,  from  the  extensity  of  the  becoming, 
which  materialized  it  in  the  course  of  its  flow.  Every 
form  thus  occupies  space  as  it  occupies  time."  But 
the  philosophy  of  "Ideas"  follows  the  inverse  direction. 
It  starts  from  the  form;  it  sees  in  the  form  the  very 
essence  of  reality. 

There  is  a  creative  evolution  of  forms,  and  may  be  of 
matter  and  motion,  but  Bergson  does  not  prove  it  in- 
ductively, he  merely  states  it  metaphysically.  He  drifts 
into  the  most  radical  statements  of  metaphysical 
idealism.  We  know  nothing  of  a  "Vital  Impetus,"  nor 
of  a  vital  principle,  nor  of  a  real  cause.  We  know  only 
what  is  apparent  through  the  senses,  and  this  is  what  he 


INORGANIC   EVOLUTION  19 

calls  the  operation  of  intellect  on  matter,  or  on  the 
material  only.  The  plainest  explanation  of  what  we  are, 
is  that  mentality  is  the  presentation  of  environment  to 
the  psychical  device,  and  the  ability  of  that  to  reason  out, 
from  these  presentations,  the  philosophy  of  life  and 
r  nature.  The  truth  is  what  works  in  man's  brain,  with 
this  correspondence;  error  is  the  want  of  a  proper  con- 
ception of  harmonious  working.  Whether  the  intellect  is 
thus  cutting  into  a  flux,  or  duration,  in  which  the  solid 
matter  is  a  degradation,  or  an  inverse  motion  of  descent, 
or  whether  the  image  on  the  brain  is  the  reality  by  which 
human  action  should  be  guided,  is  of  importance  only,  as 
the  one.  or  the  other  view,  will  effect  man's  welfare,  as  a 
denizen  of  this  globe.  We  must  act  upon  sense  impres- 
sion, and  not  intuition,  or  mysticism.  It  is  a  practical 
question,  not  an  academical  one.  The  hunt  for  something 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  human  intellect,  is  a  waste  of 
precious  time,  and  as  William  James  said  he  could  not 
always  understand  Bergson,  it  is  not  worth  while  for 
others  to  try. 

EVOLUTION  NOT  MECHANISM. — It  cannot  be  said,  in 
truth,  that  the  process  of  evolution  described  above  by 
Spencer  is  the  same  as  that  of  mechanism.  There  is 
no  analogy  between  the  method  of  nature,  and  the 
operations  of  the  hands  of  a  man,  in  manufacturing 
a  machine.  In  fact,  the  operations  of  nature  are  not  ex- 
plainable, by  comparing  them  with  those  of  man.  Paley's 
illustration  of  the  watch,  as  being  parallel,  and  proving 
design,  in  works  of  nature,  or  any  endeavor  to  use  the 
works  of  man,  as  in  any  way  applicable,  in  the  elucida- 
tion of  natural  evolution,  falls  far  short  of  satisfactory 
reasoning.  Especially  is  this  so  in  the  development  of 
an  organism  from  an  egg  cell  to  a  mature  form.  This 
process  is  a  division  of  cells  from  within  out,  and  not  the 


20  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

putting  together  of  parts  by  building  up  from  the  cir- 
cumference. 

So  much  for  the  schools  of  science  and  philosophy. 
The  above  is  more  of  an  introduction  to  this  volume  than 
a  part  of  this  chapter  on  inorganic  evolution,  which  will 
be  treated  in  a  very  general  way  in  the  next  paragraph. 

INORGUSTIC  EVOLUTION. — Inorganic  Evolution  is  that 
of  the  universe,  of  the  globes  of  space,  including  our 
solar  system.  But  organic  evolution  is  necessarily  con- 
fined to  the  earth,  because  we  know  organisms  exist  here, 
but  do  not  have  a  sensory  knowledge  of  them  elsewhere. 
Inorganic  evolution  is  proceeding  now  upon  the  earth, 
side  by  side,  with  organic  evolution.  But  it  is  apparent 
that  the  former  infinitely  preceded  the  latter  in  its  dura- 
tion, and  that  the  latter  could  not  have  occurred  until 
the  former  had  progressed  to  the  condition,  when  some 
of  its  elements  assumed  the  chlorophyllian  function :  that 
is  the  process  of  decomposing  carbonic  acid  and  wrater, 
under  the  action  of  sunlight.  The  evolution  of  the  earth 
had  proceeded  for  ages,  before  this  occurred.  This  was  the 
period  of  the  divergency  of  the  organic  method  of  evolu- 
tion, from  the  inorganic.  It  is  to  be  presumed  that  this 
divergence  has  occurred  on  other  stellar  bodies  also,  and 
that,  in  reality,  it  is  not  a  divergence  at  all,  but  only  ap- 
pears so  to  man. 

It  will  be  seen  that  Spencer's  definition  describes,  in 
technical  language,  the  transformation  of  a  nebula  into 
the  solid  bodies  of  the  solar  system,  as  well  as  the  inte- 
gration of  a  condensed  form  of  matter;  probably  by 
chemical  combination,  into  forms  of  life.  The  integra- 
tion of  matter,  composing  the  nebula,  into  globes,  and 
the  concomitant  dissipation  of  motion,  in  form  of  heat 
and  energy, — the  same  as  is  now  going  on  in  the  sun — 
is  a  theory  generally  accepted  by  physicists.  The  scope 


INORGANIC    EVOLUTION  21 

of  this  volume  will  not  permit  going  into  the  details,  as 
Arrhenius  has  done.  The  immense  space  occupied  by  the 
nebula  of  planets  is  incomprehensible.  The  largest 
among  them  is  situated  near  star  B  in  the  Great  Bear.  It 
is  perhaps  many  hundred  times  as  large  as  the  orbit  of 
Neptune.  In  the  very  densest  portion  it  is  not  more  than 
a  billionth  of  the  density  of  our  air.  Their  luminosity  is 
feeble  compared  with  that  of  the  stars.  Their  temperature 
is  equally  low.  The  immense  time  it  will  take  for  the 
condensation  of  this  nebula  into  a  system  of  globes  like 
our  solar  system,  whether  by  the  method  laid  down  by 
La  Place,  or  by  the  Lockyer  and  Chamberlain  hypothesis, 
is  inconceivable  by  us.  But  nature  is  duration,  not  time, 
as  we  conceive  it.  So  that,  the  theories  of  world  forma- 
tion are  true,  upon  the  basis  of  the  known  laws  of  gases 
and  of  matter.  The  nebular  theory  of  Kant,  La  Place, 
and  William  Herschel,  in  accounting  for  inorganic  evolu- 
tion, presupposes  the  homogeneity  and  gaseous  condition 
of  all  matter:  and  from  that  nebular  condition,  the 
present  heterogenous  stellar  universe  has  been  evolved. 
The  greatest  advance  in  astronomy,  made  in  late  years 
have  been  the  disclosures,  by  photography,  of  nebulosity, 
existing  throughout  space.  More  than  120,000  nebulae 
are  known ;  they  are  being  frequently  discovered,  and  by 
observing  these,  astronomers  are  studying  the  phases, 
through  which,  our  earth,  and  solar  system,  seem  to  have 
passed. 

The  theory  presupposes  that  the  nebula,  from  which 
the  sun  and  the  planets,  for  example,  have  integrated, 
filled  the  space  within  the  orbit  of  Neptune  with 
homogeneous  matter  in  a  very  attenuated  gaseous  state. 
Or  it  is  likely  the  nebula  extended  a  sufficient  distance 
beyond  that  orbit  to  leave  Neptune  in  the  relative 
position  it  now  occupies,  in  the  solar  system,  after  the 


22  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

subsequent  concentration  of  his  arm  of  the  original 
nebula.  The  nebula  was  the  result  of  the  collisions  of 
the  globes  which  had  been  formed  previously  in  the 
same  way.  Granted  the  existence  of  this  nebula,  and 
the  attraction  of  gravitation,  and  it  can  be  mathe- 
matically proved  that  condensation  would  begin.  In 
the  process  of  condensation  a  rapid  circular,  or  spiral 
motion,  would  be  set  up ;  and  by  the  force  thus 
generated,  the  different  planets  would  eventually  be 
iormed  upon  self-appointed  centers  in  succession ;  each 
planet  representing  a  minor  center  of  condensation, 
and  being,  at  first,  a  mass  of  incandescent  gas,  accord- 
ing to  the  planetesimal  theory,  separated  from  the 
original  mass  by  the  attraction  of  a  solid  meteor  pene- 
trating the  nebula  from  the  outside.  The  momentum 
of  each  planet  given  it  while  remaining  a  part  of  the 
nebula  would  keep  it  moving.  The  velocity  would  in- 
crease as  the  planet  solidified ;  and  the  pull  of  the 
central  mass  would  convert  this  forward  motion  into 
motion  in  an  elliptical  track;  the  law  of  moment  of 
momentum  would  perpetuate  the  character  of  the 
motion  begun  in  the  nebula,  resulting,  in  the  course  of 
untold  ages,  in  the  separate  planets  as  we  now  see 
them,  moving  in  perfect  harmony  in  their  co-ordinate 
orbits  around  a  central  sun.  The  sun  is  the  remaining 
portion  of  the  original  nebula,  many  times  larger  than 
all  the  planets  thrown  off,  and  retains  its  luminosity 
and  high  temperature  long  after  the  planets  have  lost 
theirs.  It  is  still  shrinking,  and  its  heat  is  produced 
by  the  friction  of  condensation,  and  the  chemical 
action  of  its  elements.  When  energy  seems  to  be  lost 
it  has  only  taken  another  form.  Should  all  the  bodies 
of  the  solar  system  come  together  in  such  way  as  to 
reform  the  nebula,  would  there  be  in  such  resulting 


INORGANIC   EVOLUTION  23 

nebula  the  same  force,  in  quantity  and  power,  which 
in  the  original  nebula  integrated  the  solid  bodies  and 
their  motions  as  they  now  exist?  The  present  mathe- 
matical method  of  solving  this  problem  would  perhaps 
answer  this  in  the  negative.  But  this  does  not  neces- 
sarily imply  that  any  of  the  force,  or  energy  has  been 
lost  in  reality.  It  is  continually  changing  from  one 
form  to  another.  Some  of  it  perhaps  has  taken  forms, 
in  regions  outside  of  the  solar  system.  The  moment 
of  momentum  remains  always  the  same,  and  this  is  the 
product  of  mass  multiplied  by  the  velocity;  and  that 
product  again  multiplied  by  a  perpendicular  drawn 
from  the  center,  (such  as  the  sun),  to  the  line  of 
direction  of  the  moving  body ;  for  instance,  the  orbit 
of  the  earth.  The  moment  of  momentum,  of  a  system 
like  the  solar,  is  the  aggregate  of  that  of  all  the  bodies 
composing  it.  Energy  is  the  aggregate  work  repre- 
sented in  phenomena.  The  multiplicity  of  effects,  in 
the  process  of  evolution,  as  well  as  the  process  itself, 
are  phenomena.  The  energy  of  the  solar  system  is 
represented  in  the  quantity  of  work  which  could  be 
done  if  all  its  bodies  came  together.  The  energy  of 
each  of  its  bodies  can  be  ascertained  by  multiplying 
one-half  of  its  mass,  into  the  square  of  its  velocity. 
The  persistence  of  force,  which  is  the  most  important 
law  of  physics,  and  is  perceptible,  to  our  senses,  in 
attraction  of  gravitation,  molar,  and  molecular  motion, 
chemical  attraction,  in  short,  in  the  sensory  perception 
the  eye  has  of  environment,  is  the  manifestication  of 
energy: — it  is  the  same  power  that  theology  has  per- 
sonified, and  given  intelligent  control  of  phenomena. 
Or  perhaps  it  would  be  more  accurate  to  say  that  the 
first  conception  by  man  of  an  omnipotent  power  was 
not  that  of  natural  energy,  or  the  persistence  of  force, 


24  UNIVERSAL   EVOLUTION 

but  of  a  personality  above ;  or  beyond,  and  producing 
phenomena. 

It  must  be  understood,  also,  that  a  separate  system, 
like  the  solar,  or  the  nebula,  is  constantly  losing  energy 
in  the  form  of  heat,  by  condensation.  It  is  a  curious 
fact  that  it  may  lose  heat  and  yet  retain  its  tempera- 
ture. As  it  loses  energy  its  motion  decreases,  and  as 
its  motions  change,  so  does  the  relative  position  of  its 
bodies.  At  the  same  time  the  relativity  of  its  atoms 
changes;  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  they  will  ever 
come  to  absolute  rest  even  when  all  its  matter  comes 
together  in  one  body.  The  movement  of  the  atoms,  in 
the  process  of  condensation,  is  called  arrested  motion. 
The  term  "separate  system,"  used  above,  must  be 
taken  to  mean  separate  in  form  only.  There  is  no 
"system,"  in  reality  separate,  from  the  general  monis- 
tic system,  constituting  what  we  call  Nature. 

THE  PLANETESIMAL  THEORY. — A  modification  of  the 
nebular  theory  has  been  made  by  certain  scientists. 
Comets  and  many  so  called  stars  consist  of  swarms  of 
meteorites,  which  though  normally  cold  and  dark  are 
heated  by  repeated  collisions,  and  thus  become  luminous. 
In  time,  the  force  of  gravity  condenses  the  meteoric 
swarm  into  a  single  globe.  The  parentage  of  the  solar 
system  is  a  spiral  nebula,  composed  of  planetesimals, 
and  the  planets,  such  as  the  earth,  are  formed  from  knots 
in  the  nebula,  where  many  planetesimals  have  been  con- 
centrated, near  the  intersection  of  their  orbits.  Then 
these  groups  of  meteorites,  already  as  solid  as  a  swarm  of 
bees,  are  packed  closer  by  the  influence  of  gravity.  The 
contracting  mass  is  heated  by  the  pressure  above  the 
normal  melting  point  of  the  material,  but  is  kept  rigid 
by  the  weight  of  the  overlying  mass.  It  is  evident  that 
this  theory  is  as  much  in  accordance  with  the  theory 


INORGANIC    EVOLUTION  25 

of  inorganic  evolution,  as  is  that  of  the  nebular 
hypothesis.  The  meteors  are  composed  of  the  atoms 
of  universal  matter,  and  must  be  compounds  of  simple 
elements.  They  are  probably  formed  in  the  suns  and 
thrown  out  by  radiation  pressure.  Either  theory  com- 
ports with  the  principles  herein  advocated.  The  theory 
of  evolution  leads  us  to  assume  that  the  matter  of  the 
universe  was  never  homogeneous.  There  was  no  be- 
ginning, and  will  be  no  end  to  phenomena.  The  theory 
now  seeming  most  plausible  is  that  world  bodies  are 
evolved  from  nebulae.  These  are  produced  by  col- 
lisions of  celestial  bodies  after  they  have  become  dark 
and  cold.  Such  bodies  may  sometimes  wander  for  a 
hundred  thousand  billion  years  before  colliding.  The 
nebula  resulting  from  collision  will  have  a  central  por- 
tion of  high  density,  surrounded  by  a  gaseous  envelope, 
illuminated  by  the  friction  of  its  particles.  The 
violent  rotation  given  it  by  the  collision,  together  with 
the  centrifugal  forces,  will  give  a  disk-shape  to  the  cen- 
tral mass.  Meteorites,  or  planetesimals  penetrating  the 
nebula  integrate  upon  themselves  the  gaseous  matter, 
and,  taking  the  motions  of  the  nebula,  form  centers 
of  potential  planets.  The  rotational  movement,  the 
concordance  of  plane,  and  direction  of  it,  thus  ac- 
quired in  the  nebula  by  these  nascent  planets  will 
remain  with  them  for  all  time,  with  slight  modification 
of  velocity,  and  distance  from  the  central  body.  The 
central  mass  will  remain  infinitely  larger  than  the 
aggregate  planets  evolved,  and  by  the  radiation  of 
heat,  and  the  pressure  of  this  radiation,  will  provide 
the  planets  with  the  conditions  of  life. 

Nebulae  are  seen  everywhere  in  space,  and  celestial 
bodies  are  as  widely  distributed.  Therefore  all  forms 
of  energy,  such  as  heat,  that  are  being  radiated,  while 


26  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

the  evolution  of  worlds  proceeds,  are  not  lost.  They 
hit  upon  either  the  nebulae,  or  the  bodies  evolved  from 
them.  While  our  sun  radiates  2260  million  times  more 
heat  than  the  earth  receives,  yet  the  excess  finds 
places  in  the  cosmieal  phenomena  for  its  utilization. 
Every  ray  of  light  from  any  star  will  eventually  be 
transformed  by  some  other  body.  Life  could  not  exist, 
and  phenomena  could  not  occur  without  the  constant 
radiations  from  a  hot  body  to  the  colder  surroundings 
of  space.  A  homogeneous  and  equilibrated  condi- 
tion of  all,  or  any  of  the  substance,  or  energy, 
is  incompatible  with  this  theory.  But  the  rhythm  of  the 
production  of  nebulae  by  collisions,  and  the  evolution  of 
bodies  from  these,  in  the  manner  above  mentioned,  are 
the  only  tenable  statements  that  can  now  be  made.  It 
is  necessary  to  notice  still  further  the  planetesimal  theory 
It  seems  that  the  prevalent  form  of  nebulae  is  the  spiral, 
and  that  these  give  a  spectrum  not  of  the  bright  lines  of 
incandescent  hydrogen,  helium  and  nebulium,  but  one 
that  is  continuous.  This  means,  that  the  matter  here  is 
of  a  low  temperature,  and  in  a  liquid,  or  solid  form,  con- 
ceived to  be  in  a  solid  form,  finely  .divided,  and  is  im- 
mensely spread  out.  The  prevalence  of  the  spiral  form 
of  these  nebulae,  with  two  arms  thrown  out  on  opposite 
sides,  is  significant  of  a  process  of  world  evolution.  It  is 
a  scientific  inference,  by  Mr.  Chamberlain,  that  they  are 
thus  nascent  solar  systems,  and  that  each  one  of  them 
will  become  a  sun,  planets  and  attendant  moons,  such  as 
is  now  our  system.  Any  one  who  examines  an  illustra- 
tion of  a  photograph  of  one  of  these  spiral  nebulae  will 
see  a  very  large  central  nebula,  knots  upon  the  arms, 
and  surrounding  the  whole,  finely  divided  matter.  The 
theory  supposes  that  this  attenuated  matter  will  con- 
dense upon  the  large  nucleus  and  form  a  central  sun, 


27 


and  that  matter  nearest  the  knots  will  condense  upon 
these;  and  thus  the  sun  and  planets  and  moons  will  in 
the  course  of  countless  ages,  become  similar  to  our  own 
system. 

The  constant  falling  of  meteors  upon  our  atmosphere 
now,  and  their  matter  finally  reaching  the  surface  of 
the  earth,  after  being  fused  into  gases  by  the  friction  of 
their  rapid  flight  through  the  air,  are  illustrative  of  the 
accretion  of  particles  of  matter  in  a  nebula  by  the  nuclei, 
and  the  evolution  of  worlds.  This  theory  differs  in 
many  respects  from  the  La  Placean  nebular  hypothesis, 
but  riot  in  the  fact  that  worlds  are  evolved  continually  in 
space  by  rotations  of  matter,  whose  origin  is  unknown. 
The  nebular  theory  assumed  that  the  planets  were  thrown 
off  in  succession  in  rings.  The  planetesimal  hypothesis 
assumes  that  they  were  all  formed  at  the  same  time. 
There  are  other  differences,  not  necessary  to  mention,  in 
the  elucidation  of  the  principle  of  inorganic  evolution. 
But  all  the  facts  when  critically  examined  by  Mr. 
Chamberlain  and  Mr.  Moulton,  scientifically,  accord  with 
the  well  known  facts  of  our  solar  system. 

THE  ELEMENTS. — Chemists  have  known  for  many 
years  that  the  matter  of  our  earth  can  be  reduced  to 
about  eighty  elements.  There  are  many  facts  which  indi- 
cate that  these  are  merely  varying  forms  of  one  primeval 
element,  yet  undiscovered.  ' '  The  elements  that  form  one 
per  cent  or  more  of  the  earth's  crust  are  only  eight  in 
number.  They  are  given  in  the  following  table : 

Per  cent. 

Oxygen 47.02 

Silicon 28.06 

Aluminum 8.16 

Iron  .  4.64 


28  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

Calcium 3.50 

Magnesium 2.62 

Sodium 2.63 

Potassium  .  2.32 


Total 98.95 

The  elements  forming  less  than  one  per  cent,  but 
more  than  one-tenth  of  one  per  cent  of  the  earth's  crust, 
are  titanium,  hydrogen,  and  carbon.  It  will  be  seen  from 
these  figures  that  neither  the  common  compounds,  nor 
the  common  elements,  are  bewildering  in  number.  Ex- 
amples of  the  chief  rock-forming  minerals  can  be  found 
in  nearly  every  locality."  (Paddock) 

The  materials  of  the  sun,  planets,  stars,  and  nebulae  are 
essentially  the  same  as  those  of  the  earth.  The  spectro- 
scope has  revealed  this  fact.  The  elements  of  which 
the  earth  is  composed,  when  heated  to  incandescence, 
produce,  in  the  spectrum,  the  same  lines  that  some 
parts  of  the  light  of  the  sun,  and  stars,  and  the  nebulae 
produce.  This  is  a  weighty  piece  of  evidence  in  favor 
of  the  theory  that  earth,  sun,  and  planets  are  all  por- 
tions of  the  same  primeval  nebula.  "In  the  spectrum 
every  'element'  gives  a  perfectly  distinct  set  of  lines 
or  bands ;  so  that  the  spectroscopist  may  take  any  sub- 
stance and  heating  it  to  incandescence,  know  from  the 
characteristic  lines,  exactly  what  elements  it  con- 
tains." (Snyder). 

LA  PLACE  AND  KANT. — Neither  La  Place,  nor  Kant, 
knew  of  this  evidence,  yet  they  gave  the  theory  the  sup- 
port of  their  names  upon  the  evidence  of  other  facts; 
La  Place  deducing  it  from  the  theory  of  probabilities. 
Kant  maintained  the  nebular  theory,  which  is  directly 
subversive  of  special  creation  and,  also,  contended  that 


INORGANIC    EVOLUTION  29 

the  existence  of  a  Creator  and  the  immortality  of  the 
soul  could  not  be  proved  by  the  unaided  "faculties"  of 
men.  He,  also,  asserted  that  these  unprovable  things, 
must  be  believed  upon  authority.  This  means  that  the 
proven  theories  of  science  shall  be  disbelieved,  for  the 
sake  of  assertions,  by  those  in  power,  which  cannot  be 
proved. 

One  fact  in  nature  strikes  one  very  forcibly,  as  at 
least  a  strong  inference,  in  favor  of  the  nebular  theory. 
Heat,  in  sufficiently  high  temperature,  resolves  all  solids 
into  gases.  In  the  sun's  photosphere  the  spectroscope 
shows  that  many  metals,  and  similar  elements,  that  are 
in  a  solid  form  on  the  earth,  are  components  of  the  gases 
of  the  sun.  It  is  not  only  known  that  the  gases  of  the 
sun  are  gradually  condensing  as  heat  is  radiated,  but 
that  when,  under  the  blow  pipe,  in  the  laboratory,  a  solid 
is  converted  into  gas,  that  the  reverse  process  occurs 
when  the  heat  is  withdrawn,  viz.,  the  gas  naturally  con- 
denses into  the  former  solid  condition.  Even  the  atmos- 
phere can  be  condensed  irito  a  solid.  All  heat  has  its 
origin  in  the  sun,  and  is  produced  by  the  condensation 
of  its  units,  radiating  heat  by  friction.  The  inference  is, 
that  all  matter  has  been  condensed  from  a  nebulous  con- 
dition, in  this  way. 

CONCORDANCE  OF  PLANETARY  MOTION. — The  other  evi- 
dences of  inorganic  evolution  are  the  remarkable  con- 
cordance of  the  planes  of  the  orbits,  and  the  motions  of 
the  planets  therein,  around  the  sun,  and  the  still  further 
concordance  of  the  orbits  and  motions  of  the  satellites 
of  the  planets,  with  the  orbits  of  the  planets.  The 
greatest  inclination  that  any  of  the  planes  of  the  orbits 
of  the  planets  have,  to  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic,  is  7 
degrees,  that  of  Mercury.  All  the  bodies  move  in  the 
same  direction,  and  this  direction  is  that  in  which  the 


30 


law  of  motion  in  a  nebula  proves  they  would  move,  on 
the  nebular  theory.  The  satellites  of  Uranus  and 
Neptune  alone  revolve  in  a  direction  opposite  to  that  of 
the  others;  but  the  motions  of  those  planets  themselves 
correspond  with  the  theory.  There  is  a  sufficient  ex- 
planation of  this  anomaly;  and  the  conclusion  of  astron- 
omers is,  that  these  satellites  will  revolve  later  on,  in 
the  true  direction. 

The  satellites  of  Uranus  revolve  around  the  planet 
in  one  plane,  inclined  83  degrees  to  that  of  the  ecliptic, 
and  in  an  opposite  direction  from  the  motion  of  the 
planet  in  its  orbit.  The  law  of  dynamics  implies  that 
this  means  an  excess  of  energy. — the  inner  satellite 
making  a  revolution  in  one  and  a  half  days, — which 
in  the  course  of  ages  will  be  regulated,  by  gradually 
lessening  this  angle  of  plane,  and  decreasing  the 
velocity.  At  first  the  angle  will  rise  to  90  degrees,  and 
then  continue  on  the  other  side  until  it  reaches  180 
degrees.  This  would  bring  the  motion  in  the  right 
direction ;  not  by  any  change  in  the  absolute  direction 
of  movement  of  the  satellite,  but  by  lessening  the 
energy  of  the  movement,  and  at  the  same  time  increas- 
ing the  angle  of  its  plane  to  more  than  90  degrees.  This 
will  bring  the  motion  that  now  appears  to  be  in  the 
opposite  direction  into  the  same  direction  with  that  of 
the  planet,  or  from  retrograde  to  direct  motion.  This 
is,  likely,  what  w^ll  occur  to  the  satellites  of  both 
Uranus  and  Neptune.  The  latter  are  now  only  at  an 
angle  of  35  degrees  to  the  ecliptic,  but  it  is  supposed 
that  this  plane  will  pass  through  movements  parallel 
to  that  of  the  satellites  of  Uranus 

"The  movements  of  the  satellites  of  Uranus  and 
Neptune  do  not  disprove  the  nebular  hypothesis. 
Rather  they  illustrate  the  fact  that  the  great  evolution 


INORGANIC    EVOLUTION  31 

which  has  wrought  the  solar  system  into  form  has  not 
yet  finished  its  work ;  it  is  still  in  progress.  The  work 
is  very  nearly  done;  and  when  that  work  shall  have 
been  completed  the  satellites  of  Uranus  and  Neptune 
will  no  longer  be  dissociated  from  the  general  concord." 
(Ball). 

Arrhenius  thinks  that  the  outer  portions  of  the 
primeval  nebula  were  so  attenuated,  that  the  immigrat- 
ing bodies  which  formed  the  nuclei  for  Uranus  and 
Neptune,  did  not  attain  sufficient  volume  to  have  the 
large  common  rotation,  in  the  equatorial  plane  of  the 
sun,  impressed  upon  them  by  the  tidal  effects.  For 
this  reason,  their  moons  are  independent  of  the  general 
concordance  of  movement  in  common  plane. 

RADIUM. — The  discovery  of  radium  is  likely  to  change 
the  ideas  now  in  vogue  regarding  the  age  of  the  earth, 
and  is  most  important  to  its  geology.  Heretofore  it  was 
thought  there  was  nothing  to  replace  the  apparent 
loss  of  heat  which  flows  from  the  interior  to  the  sur- 
face. If  there  is  nothing  within  the  earth  to  replace 
this  heat,  then,  according  to  the  calculations  of  Lord 
Kelvin,  the  earth  is  only  about  a  hundred  million 
years  old.  But  since  a  small  particle  of  radium  has 
been  derived  from  the  earth  by  Madam  Curie,  new 
estimates  have  greatly  extended  this  time.  Professors 
Strutt  and  Joly  have  determined  that  there  are  in  the 
earth  only  five  grammes  of  radium  to  a  cube,  whose 
side  is  one  hundred  miles ;  yet  the  heat  given  out  by 
this  small  particle  is  so  great  that  it  is  more  than 
enough  to  replace  the  lost  heat.  It  is  calculated 
that  if  there  were  as  much  radium  throughout  the 
interior  as  in  the  crust,  the  heat  would  increase  much 
more  rapidly  than  it  does  from  the  surface  toward  the 
center.  According  to  this  theory,  the  rocks  of  the 


32  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

earth  extend  from  thirty  to  forty-five  miles  only  from 
the  surface.  At  a  greater  depth  than  this  the  matter 
is  fairly  homogeneous.  By  an  ingenious  method,  start- 
ing with  the  fact  that  from  radio-active  bodies  the  gas 
helium  is  given  out,  it  is  found  that  a  specimen  of 
thoranite,  one  of  the  metals  of  the  earth,  must  be  more 
than  240,000,000  years  old.  Of  course,  the  earth  would 
be  of  equal  age.  Another  curious  fact  is,  were  there 
no  carbonic  acid,  and  invisible  aqueous  vapor  in  the 
atmosphere,  there  would  be  little  continuous  heat  on 
the  earth.  The  internal  heat  of  the  earth  has  little 
effect  at  the  surface, — about  one-twentieth  of  a  degree, 
— but  the  heat  increases  about  one  degree  every  sixty 
feet  from  the  surface  toward  the  center. 


CHAPTER  II 
ORGANIC  EVOLUTION 

IN  the  earlier  stages  of  the  evolution  of  the  earth 
there  could  have  been  no  organic  forms,  such  as 
we  know  them  now.  But  if  the  nebular  or  plane- 
tessimal  theory  is  the  correct  one,  there  came  a 
time  in  the  condensation  of  our  globe,  after  it  had  passed 
through  a  gaseous,  and  then  assumed  a  comparatively 
solid  form,  that  the  surface  temperature  became  greatly 
reduced.  At  some  favorable  juxtaposition  of  earth,  air, 
temperature,  and  moisture,  life  must  have  arisen  from 
inorganic  substances  in  a  manner  entirely  unknown  to 
us,  except  by  scientific  inference,  no  man  being  there  to 
see  it ;  at  first  in  a  very  lowly  form,  by  a  combination  of 
elements  which  we  find  in  all  organisms, — carbon,  hydro- 
gen, oxygen,  and  nitrogen.  As  shown  heretofore,  three 
of  these  elements  form  a  large  part  of  the  earth's  crust, 
and  nitrogen  is  one  constituent,  very  large  in  bulk,  of  the 
inorganic  atmosphere.  The  evolution  of  living  forms,  as 
we  now  see  them,  from  the  first  true  moner,  which  per- 
haps came  into  existence  in  a  natural  way  in  many  places 
at  the  same  time,  is  what  we  mean  by  organic,  or  bio- 
logical evolution,  as  distinguished  from  the  older  theory 
of  special  creation.  It  followed  after  inorganic  evolu- 
tion, as  a  natural  result  of  the  upward,  or  progressive 
change  of  matter,  from  the  homogeneous  to  the  hetero- 
geneous. Life  could  not  exist  without  the  inorganic  for 
its  support.  It  is  never  found  except  in  contact  with 
matter,  and  its  own  form  is  always  composed  of  inorganic 
elements.  The  inorganic  and  the  organic  are  never  sepa- 
rate. A  life  form  is  not  made  up  of  certain  inorganic 

33 


34  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

elements,  and  then  disconnected,  to  remain  without  the 
necessity  of  a  renewal  of  its  parts  from  the  inorganic. 
Its  birth  in  its  first  state,  its  growth  of  matter  taken 
from  the  earth,  ocean  and  air,  and  its  elements,  return- 
ing to  the  inorganic  environment  at  death,  all  indicate 
very  clearly  a  transformation  from  the  inorganic,  and 
back  again  to  the  same.  This  connection,  during  the 
whole  career  of  a  living  body,  is  of  great  significance  to 
the  principle  of  materialistic  monism. 

Probably  life  began  in  the  water.  Certainly  the  low- 
est forms  of  life  are  marine.  From  these,  by  gradual 
hereditary  variation  in  form,  and  the  integration  of  mat- 
ter from  the  immediate  environment,  all  species  were 
developed.  As  said  by  Robert  Kennedy  Duncan,  ' '  Some 
instant,  it  may  be,  between  the  time  when  the  geologist 
knows  that  living  matter  was  not,  and  that,  at  which 
the  paleontologist  knows  that  living  matter  was,  living 

matter  began." 

*     *     #     * 

"The  elements  contained  in  sea  water  are  sodium,  cal- 
cium, magnesium,  potassium,  chlorine,  sulphur,  carbon, 
hydrogen,  oxygen,  and  iron.  The  elements  contained 
in  living  matter  are  these  identical  things." 

Professor  Macallum,  of  the  University  of  Toronto, 
has  shown  that  the  relative  proportions  of  the  inorganic 
elements  of  blood-plasma  and  sea  water  are  as  follows : 
Sea-water  100  parts  sodium,  3.84  calcium,  3.66  potas- 
sium. Serum  of  mammals  100  of  sodium,  2.58  calcium, 
6.69  potassium.  Duncan  asserts  that  the  earliest  seas 
were  still  nearer  the  composition  of  the  organic 
elements  of  the  mammalian  tissue.  These  facts  are  very 
significant  as  to  the  origin  of  life  in  those  early  seas. 
The  facts  go  toward  proving  that  when  the  nebula  of  our 
solar  system  began  to  evolve,  as  we  now  see  other 


ORGANIC    EVOLUTION  35 

nebulas  evolving,  there  was  no  break  in  the  continuity 
of  the  evolution,  from  that  first  beginning  to  the  present 
time;  that  the  elements  of  the  inorganic,  which  are 
now  known  to  be  in  the  organic,  came  together  at  some 
favorable  epoch  of  such  evolution,  and  formed  a  living 
organism,  as  naturally,  as  they  did  in  the  nebula,  to 
form  the  globes  of  the  universe.  This  theory  is  more 
plausible  than  that  the  germ  spores  of  life  float  through 
space  and  fall  upon  globes  everywhere,  to  develop  into 
organisms. 

GERMS  ETERNAL. — There  was  either  the  above  de- 
scribed origin  of  life  spores,  or  they  are  as  eternal 
as  matter.  In  the  latter  supposition  they  had  no  origin. 
It  may  be  that  when  the  atoms  of  the  nebula  come 
together  in  certain  chemical  combinations  they  become 
compound  physiological  units,  in  which  the  peculiar 
form  of  matter  and  motion  called  life,  or  the  "vital 
impetus"  is  potential.  But  either  theory  of  life  is  not 
supported  by  sensory  proof,  and  it  is  therefore  unprofit- 
able to  pursue  it.  What  is  apparent  to  the  senses  is  the 
following:  It  seems  the  organism  is  a  medium  only 
which  nature  adopts  for  the  continuity  of  life.  The 
principal  thing  is  this  continuity.  The  successive  forms 
are  the  momentary  vehicles  to  carry  on  the  invisible 
flux  of  life,  from  generation  to  generation.  The  germ 
cells  carry  the  potentiality  of  variation,  heredity,  and 
all  human  action.  Nothing  is  visible  in  them  under 
the  microscope,  which  would  convey  to  the  observer  any 
prophecy  of  their  imminence,  power  and  importance. 
There  is  no  microscopical  form  of  future  species,  or 
individuals;  nor  is  there  the  registration,  in  letters  of 
fire,  of  the  biology  of  all  past  life,  which  they  carry  in 
their  tiny  biophers,  with  which  they  are  going  to  endow 
the  future  organisms,  into  which  they  will  develop. 


36  UNIVERSAL   EVOLUTION 

But  their  significant  burden  is,  that  they  will  convey, 
to  the  sexual  organs  of  these  future  organisms,  the 
continuous  power  of  creative  life,  and  the  essential 
elements  of  organic  variation,  required  by  the  law  of 
evolution.  This  is  the  great  function  of  procreative 
germs  of  life. 

It  is  not  possible  to  put  into  artificial  time,  the  period 
'life  has  existed  on  the  globe.  Joly  says,  that  about 
a  hundred  million  years  have  passed  since  the  age 
when  the  oceans  originated.  The  temperature  of  the 
earth  in  this  time  fell  from  365°,  the  lowest  at  which 
water  vapor  will  condense  to  liquid  water,  to  its  present 
temperature.  Life  forms  soon  appeared  in  the  ocean, 
which  did  not  differ  so  very  much  from  some  of  those 
now  existing.  We  know  matter  and  energy,  or  rather 
that  aggregate  of  sensations  which  we  call  by  these 
names,  could  have  no  origin,  because  it  has  been  induc- 
tively demonstrated  that  both  are  indestructible.  It 
may  be  the  same  with  life.  Arrhenius  holds  that  life 
spores  may  be  carried  through  inter-stellar  space,  and 
still  retain  power  of  fertilization  on  distant  globes. 
This  theory  would  class  life  spores  with  indestructible 
matter  and  energy,  to  which  the  word  ''origin"  should 
not  apply. 

EMBRYOLOGY. — All  organisms  now  develop  from  an 
egg-or-germ-cell.  Here  and  there  a  scientist  asserts 
that  life  is  now  arising  from  the  inorganic  by  archebi- 
osis.  But  the  propagation,  by  cells,  is  the  process 
apparent  to  everybody.  All  animals  begin  their 
development  in  a  cell  from  1/120  to  1/100  of  an  inch  in 
diameter,  having  the  same  formation  and  the  same 
composition  in  every  instance.  The  worm  that  crawls 
on  the  ground,  and  man,  who  is  the  most  complex  and 
heterogeneous  of  organisms,  have  precisely  the  same 


ORGANIC    EVOLUTION  37 

beginning,  in  an  egg-cell.  But  the  egg-cell  of  man  has 
altogether  different  potential  energy  from  that  of  the 
worm.  This  difference  is  not  perceptible  until  the 
development  occurs.  In  its  development,  however,  the 
embryo  of  man  is  not  differentiated  from  that  of 
other  animals,  until  after  the  third  month.  Two  cells 
appearing  alike  may  develop,  one  into  a  man,  and 
another  into  a  worm.  It  does  not  seem  that  even 
microscopy  can  discern  in  the  cell  forms,  the  potential 
difference  of  the  two  cells. 

In  chapter  4  of  the  "Principles  of  Biology,"  Spencer 
treats  of  the  proximate  definition  of  life,  and  shows  that 
it  means  the  same  as  his  definition  of  evolution  given 
heretofore.  The  phrase  "from  homogeneity  to  hetero- 
geneity, ' '  means  the  evolving  of  the  higher  forms  of  life 
from  the  lower.  The  term, ' '  higher  form, ' '  means  a  more 
heterogeneous  structure  and  function.  The  "moner"  of 
Haeckel  is  the  lowest  evidence  of  life  that  we  read  about, 
it  being  a  splotch  of  organic  matter,  without  form,  and 
having  no  cell  formation.  The  matter  of  the  "moner"  is 
as  nearly  homogeneous  as  any  organic  matter  can  be. 
From  this  first  life  substance,  or  protoplasm,  it  is  reason- 
able to  infer,  that  the  cell  was  slowly  evolved,  which 
probably  has  taken  more  time,  as  geology  marks  time, 
than  all  the  ages  since  the  first  cell  was  formed. 

TIME. — It  is  necessary  in  the  above  sentence  to  insert 
the  expression  "as  geology  marks  time,"  and  it  seems 
pertinent  to  interject  here  some  observations  on  "time." 
There  is  no  time,  as  our  ordinary  intellect  conceives  it. 
The  only  way  we  mark  it,  is  either  by  the  measurement 
of  space,  as  the  second,  minute,  hour,  day,  week,  year, 
etc.,  or  by  noting  the  changes  in  phenomena,  or  the  mate- 
rial forms  of  life,  or  matter.  But  in  those  things,  or 
principles,  upon  which  we  base  so  much  of  our  being  we 


38  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

notice  no  changes.  The  principles  of  logic,  or  of  mathe- 
matics, never  change.  The  demonstrations  of  arithmetic, 
of  geometry, — such  as  the  right  angled  triangle, — are 
the  same  now  as  they  have  always  been.  The  golden 
rule  never  grows  old,  but  is  new,  and  bright,  as  it  was 
first  uttered  by  man.  So  with  the  cell,  the  basis  of  life, 
and  the  atom,  or  ion,  or  explosion,  the  basis  of  matter. 
There  is  no  change  to  these.  Unity,  continuity,  con- 
densation, conservation,  never  change  by  duration,  and 
hence  the  usual  marks  by  which  we  note  the  flow  of 
time,  in  mere  forms,  do  not  apply  to  these.  So  that  time, 
as  a  reality,  is  a  mere  conception  of  the  human  brain. 
It  is  merely  a  name  we  apply  to  other  realities.  When 
the  attention  is  withdrawn  from  the  ordinary  succession 
of  the  movements  of  the  sun  across  the  sky;  that  is,  the 
artificial  division  of  time,  and  concentrated  on  an  object 
remote  from  any  connection  with  the  passing  hours,  then 
to  the  brain  there  is  no  flow  of  time.  If  there  were  no 
visible  sun,  moon,  or  stars,  nor  any  artificial  instruments, 
to  denote  duration,  there  would  be  no  time,  except  the 
rhythmic  action  of  the  vital  organs,  and  the  coming  and 
going  of  forms  of  matter. 

HETEROGENEOUSNESS. — Montgomery,  in  "Analysis  of 
Racial  Descent  in  Animals,"  contends  that  racial  ad- 
vancement is  not  from  the  homogeneous  to  the  hetero- 
geneous, but  that  it  is  the  degree  of  morphological 
departure  from  the  original  ancestor.  Now,  it  is  true, 
the  cell  is  a  heterogeneous  organ,  as  he  contends,  but 
only  in  its  potential  growth  energy.  But,  compared  with 
the  heterogeneity  of  a  matured  man,  both  in  structure 
and  function,  it  is  quite,  though  not  entirely  homo- 
geneous. Evolution  in  its  broadest  scope,  including 
inorganic  and  organic,  is  certainly  a  development  from 
the  homogeneous  to  the  less  homogeneous,  if  the  hypo- 


ORGANIC    EVOLUTION  39 

thetical  nebula  is  to  be  considered  homogeneous,  and  as 
the  beginning  of  evolution.  If  the  atoms  were  all  alike 
they  would  constitute  a  homogeneous  nebula. 

The  unicellular  protozoon,  which  never  develops  be- 
yond one  cell,  but  grows  in  bulk  only,  differs  from  the 
multicellular  metazoon,  in  its  beginning,  not  in  the  size, 
or  form,  or  substance  of  the  cell,  but  in  the  absence  of 
fertilization  of  its  nucleus;  and  the  consequent  addition 
of  new  cells,  in  building  up  a  multicellular  organism. 
A  multicellular  organism  grows  by  fission,  but  in  doing 
so  the  birth  of  new  cells  is  accompanied  by  a  membrane 
that  holds  the  cells  together.  The  significant  fact,  for 
evolution,  is  that  in  its  beginning  every  animal,  also 
every  vegetable,  is  a  cell  analogous,  if  not  homologous, 
with  every  other,  in  appearance.  That  fact,  coupled 
with  another  fact  in  embryology,  viz.,  that  all  mammals, 
including  man,  in  their  embryological  development,  be- 
fore they  arrive  at  the  mammalian  form,  parallel  the 
embryological  forms  of  all  the  animals  below  the  order 
of  mammals,  viz.,  radiata,  articulata,  molusca,  and  fish 
and  reptiles  of  the  order  of  vertebrata,  is  very  strong 
evidence  that  they  were,  at  some  period  of  their  develop- 
ment, existing  in  the  adult  forms  of  these  lower  orders. 
This  is  strong  and  very  convincing  evidence  of  deriva- 
tion from  lower  orders,  by  variation  and  inheritance. 
There  are  scientists,  however,  who  deny  the  exactness 
of  the  parallelism.  Montgomery  contends,  that  when  a 
variation  occurs,  that  is  racial,  there  is  not  only  a  modi- 
fication of  the  matured  form,  but  what  makes  the  varia- 
tion racial  is  the  fact,  that  the  germ  cell  is  modified  cor- 
respondingly. This  is  Weissmanism.  Therefore  all  sub- 
sequent embryos  are  modified,  not  only  at  the  point, 
where  they  assume  the  form  of  the  new  race,  but  at  all 
stages,  prior  as  well  as  subsequent.  So  that  there  can- 


40  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

not  be  in  such  embryos,  which  means  all  embryos,  any 
real  parallelism  between  the  ontogeny,  and  the  phylo- 
geny.  "The  relation  between  the  two  is  always  that  of 
an  inexact  parallelism."  This  means  that,  in  a  general 
way,  there  are  points  in  the  ontogeny  that  can  well  be 
interpreted  as  indicating  a  parallel  to  the  phylogeny. 
More  thorough  experimentation  is  needed  in  embryology 
to  determine  in  just  what  points  the  parallelism  consists. 

CLASSIFICATION. — The  usual  proofs  of  organic  evolu- 
tion by  natural  selection,  or  the  survival  of  the  fittest, 
are  drawn  from  classification,  morphology,  embryology, 
paleontology,  and  geographical  distribution.  These  are 
all  important  branches  of  biology.  While  the  scope  of 
this  volume  will  not  permit  an  elaborate  treatment  of 
these  very  interesting  studies,  yet  a  few  facts,  prominent 
in  each,  will  perhaps  stimulate  the  reader's  attention 
toward  a  larger  study  of  those  scientists '  works  who  have 
made  a  more  elaborate  practical  analysis  of  them. 

Naturalists,  prior  to  Darwin,  had  busied  themselves 
in  making  collections  of  specimens,  and  studying  the 
facts  of  affinity  and  variation,  without  seeming  to 
arrive  at  any  theory  regarding  the  origin  of  forms. 
They  took  for  granted  the  statements  in  Genesis,  and 
classified  accordingly.  Species  were  asserted  to  be 
immutable ;  each  the  result  of  a  definite  creative  act, 
and  each  separated  from  every  other  by  impassable 
differences.  These  were  the  bases  of  the  Linnean 
classification,  and  also  of  Cuvier's.  The  naturalists,  St. 
Hilaire,  Lamarck,  and  Erasmus  Darwin  were  excep- 
tions. They  conceived  the  idea  of  evolution  founded 
on  methods  not  properly  established  by  science  at  that 
time.  The  theory  was  not  adopted  by  naturalists  until 
a  more  correct  method  was  established  by  Darwin  and 
Wallace. 


ORGANIC    EVOLUTION  41 

Any  classification  of  organisms,  however,  was  an 
analysis  made  by  man  as  a  means  of  logical  study,  and 
was  more  or  less  artificial.  The  classification  of 
Linnaeus  was  largely  artificial.  It  was  based  on  super- 
ficial qualities,  and  special  creation.  But  he  first  used 
the  binomial  nomenclature,  a  terse  formula  for  descrip- 
tion, and  fixing  attention  on  species,  and  in  use  at  the 
present  time.  His  classification  was  not  based  on  in- 
ternal structure,  or  anatomical  and  biological  or  generic 
features.  He  extended  his  lists  by  description  of 
species  only,  under  the  presupposition  that  they  were 
created. 

Cuvier  classified  by  comparative  anatomy,  but  still 
based  on  fixity  of  species.  He  believed  in  special  crea- 
tion. He  conceived  four  types  of  animals:  the 
vertebrated,  the  moluscan,  the  articulated,  and  the 
radiated.  He  first  wrote  a  pamphlet  in  1795.  He  first 
gave  expression  to  the  idea  of  correlation  of  parts; 
viz.,  that,  for  instance,  a  cloven  hoof  indicated  certain 
forms  of  other  parts.  He  was  the  founder  of  compara- 
tive anatomy.  But  he  was  also  the  inventor  of  catas- 
trophism.  He  asserted  that  apparent  differences,  and 
likenesses,  of  fossil  forms  in  the  strata  of  the  earth, 
were  caused  by  the  destruction  of  all  life  forms  in  the 
different  epochs,  and  the  special  creation  of  new  ones. 

Von  Baer  founded  the  science  of  embryology,  which 
supported  Cuvier 's  comparative  anatomy.  When  the 
theory  of  evolution  was  born,  in  1859,  it  supplemented 
Cuvier  and  Von  Baer,  by  eliminating  special  creation 
and  substituting  close  genetic  affinities.  Embryology, 
and  comparative  anatomy,  after  that,  had  a  new  mean- 
ing for  classification.  Man  was  then  dethroned  from 
the  position  of  a  special  artificial  order,  which  Cuvier 
created  for  him,  and  given  a  family  in  the  order  of 


42  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

mammalia.  Instead  of  being  created  at  the  head  of 
animals,  he  had  the  same  genetic  origin  as  all  other 
mammals.  It  also  became  then  plain  that  the  line 
between  the  different  orders,  families,  genera,  and 
especially  of  species,  was  not  distinct,  but  that  the 
demarcation  became  very  obscure  at  the  margins,  and 
the  species  of  former  epochs  gradually  merged  into 
others. 

By  a  general  sweeping  classification  of  all  organisms. 
Linnaeus,  Cuvier,  and  other  naturalists  quickly  found 
that  two  organic  kingdoms  could  be  established, — the 
vegetable  and  the  animal, — but  not  by  strictly  impassa- 
ble boundary  lines.  They  merge  into  each  other  at  all 
points  of  attribute  and  quality.  In  some  degree,  the 
characteristics  of  a  vegetable  are  found  in  every  animal, 
and  every  animal  possessed  at  some  moment,  and  in 
some  species,  the  peculiarities  of  a  vegetable.  This  is 
not  surprising  when  it  is  found  that  the  vegetable  is 
but  one  step  in  the  evolution  of  higher  life,  and  that 
animal  life  is  not  possible  without  the  vegetable.  The 
cells  of  both  are  propagated  by  like  methods,  and  are 
similar,  in  being  formed  of  identical  protoplasm.  The 
two  can  be  classified  into  groups,  characterized  by 
certain  qualities,  which  are  emphasized  by  the  group, 
but  not  possessed  exclusively  by  it.  The  most  impor- 
tant distinction  between  the  animal  and  the  vegetable 
is  their  method  of  alimentation.  The  vegetable  takes 
directly  from  inorganic  nature  its  sustentation.  But 
the  animal  draws  its  sustentation  only  secondarily  from 
the  inorganic,  through  the  vegetable,  which  has  stored, 
by  its  chlorophylian  power,  a  reservoir  of  fixed  carbon, 
directly  from  the  soil  and  air.  Yet,  there  is  the  enigma 
of  the  Drosera  and  the  pinguicula,  which  live  like 
vegetables  partly,  and.  like  animals,  feed  also  upon 


ORGANIC    EVOLUTION  43 

insects.  The  fungi  feed  like  animals,  as  do  all 
vegetable  parasites.  Yet  there  are  sufficient  other  sim- 
ilarities between  these  lowly  organisms,  and  the 
vegetable  kingdom  in  general,  to  classify  them  with  the 
latter.  In  the  matter  of  mobility,  and  fixity,  there  is 
the  same  quality  in  some  degree  in  both  kingdoms.  Yet 
the  matter  of  moving  from  place  to  place  is  so  over- 
whelmingly in  favor  of  the  animal  in  general  that  there 
is  little  difficulty  in  making  the  classification. 

Linnaeus,  Cuvier,  and  all  naturalists  who  undertook  to 
reduce  the  innumerable  living  organisms  on  the  earth 
to  an  orderly  system,  soon  discovered  analogous  struc- 
ture and  function  in  all.  Both  kingdoms  are  made  up 
of  such  numerous  diverse  forms,  that  it  required  won- 
derful intellectual  ability  and  judgment,  to  so  arrange 
them,  in  groups  subordinate  to  groups,  having  such  abid- 
ing characteristics  in  common,  that  the  members  of  each 
group  could  always  be  properly  placed,  by  means  of 
their  group  characteristics.  At  first  it  was  thought  that 
those  animal  structures  whose  functions  were  of  the 
widest  use  to  the  individual,  and  most  apparent  to  the 
eye,  should  be  taken  as  the  abiding  characters  for  classi- 
fication. That  was  the  method  of  Linnaeus.  Form  and 
outline  were  the  elements.  Darwin  says  that,  "Lin- 
naeus misled  by  appearance  actually  classed  an  homop- 
terous  insect  as  a  moth. ' '  But  experience  demonstrated 
that  really  the  most  persistent  structures, — and  the  most 
helpful  in  classification, — were  the  more  obscure,  and 
the  least  useful.  Cuvier  made  the  beginning  of  the 
internal  method,  by  dissection,  anatomy,  and  physiology. 
This  is  also  a  very  strong  proof  of  evolution,  or  deriva- 
tion, by  variation  and  inheritance;  because,  if,  for  ex- 
ample, all  the  vertebrates  have  backbones  internally,  and 
the  orders  of  that  division  include  such  wonderful  dif- 


44  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

ferences  of  form,  and  structure  otherwise,  as  fish,  rep- 
tiles, birds,  and  mammals,  then  all  these  differences  must 
be  variations  of,  and  derivations  from,  a  common  ances 
tor,  having  only  one  form,  and  a  backbone. 

The  great  variety  of  forms  in  the  vertebrate  division, 
is  a  differentiation  of  structure  that  is  called  adaptive. 
But  the  inner  vertebral  structure  persists  through  all 
the  variations,  and  this  classifies  the  orders  of  fish,  rep- 
tile, bird,  and  mammal,  under  the  single  division  verte- 
brate. The  same  principle  applies  to  each  of  the  other 
divisions  of  the  animal  kingdom,  viz. :  ' '  Mollusca,  Arti- 
culata,  Radiata  and  Protozoa.  In  each  it  is  a  persistent, 
and  unadaptive  structure,  often  obscure,  which  mar- 
shals the  different  orders,  group  by  group,  with  their 
great  variations  of  outward  form,  under  these  five  great 
divisions.  For  example,  man's  vertebral  and  mammal- 
ian structures  do  not  dissociate  him  from  the  order  of 
vertebrate  mammals,  although  his  superior  brain  and  its 
psychial  manifestations  do.  But  the  latter  are  such 
variable  qualities,  that  they  cannot  be  used  as  bases  of 
classification.  They  are  secondary  characters,  having 
grown  out  of  the  physical.  The  physical  and  genealogi- 
cal, alone,  can  be  made  the  basis  of  classification.  He, 
therefore,  must  be  classified  as  a  family  of  the  order  of 
mammals.  He  was,  therefore,  not  created  at  the  head 
of  the  animal  kingdom. 

Classification  of  plants  and  animals  is  made  in  groups 
subordinate  to  groups.  This  can  be  done  only  because 
of  structural  resemblances,  and  structural  differences. 
For  example,  a  porpoise  lives  in  the  water  and  has  the 
form  and  habits  of  a  fish.  Yet  it  gives  suck  to  its  off- 
spring, and  is  therefore  a  mammal.  It  is  rare  to  find  a 
mammal  an  inhabitant  of  the  water.  The  order  as  a 
whole  is  terrestrial.  Yet  it  is  clear  that  the  whale,  the 


ORGANIC    EVOLUTION  45 

seal,  the  porpoise,  on  the  theory  of  descent  from  a  pre- 
ceding form,  common  to  all  mammalia,  by  so  decided  a 
change  of  habits,  from  land  to  water,  changed  only  such 
structure  as  was  necessary  to  adapt  them  to  marine 
habits.  But  the  structure  necessary  to  suckle  the  young 
persisted  in  the  new  habitat.  It  is  this  persistent,  but 
less  apparent  structure,  that  classifies  them,  and  not  the 
more  adaptive  structures  of  legs  and  feet,  changed  to 
paddles,  and  the  terrestrial  general  form  changed  to  the 
shape  of  a  fish.  Should  the  whale  eventually  adopt  a 
terrestrial  habitat,  the  fish-like  form  would  change  to 
an  adapted  form,  but  it  would  still  retain  its  persistent 
mammalian  structure,  by  which  it  is  classified.  Darwin 
says  that  community  of  descent  is  the  bond  that  is  par 
tially  revealed  to  us  by  descent.  Outside  resemblances 
are  of  no  importance.  The  resemblance  of  a  whale  to  a 
fish  is  worth  nothing  in  classification.  Nor  are  any 
organs,  connected  with  special  habits,  of  value.  Adap- 
tive characters  are  not  valuable  in  classification. 

The  rudimentary  teeth  in  the  upper  jaws  of  young 
ruminants,  and  certain  rudimentary  bones  of  the  leg, 
are  highly  serviceable,  in  exhibiting  the  close  affinity 
between  ruminants  and  pachyderms.  This  shows  how 
parts  unimportant  to  the  organism,  in  its  movements, 
are  of  the  highest  importance  in  classification.  The  ob- 
ject of  classification  is  to  show  genetic  affinity  of  the 
members  of  the  groups.  Every  feature,  or  character, 
showing  this,  is  a  proof  of  descent  by  inheritance  with 
modification.  It  would  almost  seem  that  true  and  endur- 
ing classification  is  merely  bringing  together  the  evi- 
dences of  evolution  of  organisms  from  lower  orders. 
(Darwin). 

If  classification  is  made  by  means  of  those  characters 
showing  genetic  affinity,  it  is  also  found  that  when  the 


46  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

organisms  are  actually  placed  together  in  groups  that 
most  other  characters  correspond  also.  The  embryo- 
logical  characters  are  of  more  value  in  classification 
than  those  of  the  adult  form,  because  the  embryo  in 
its  development  parallels,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree, 
many  of  the  embryological  forms,  through  which  the 
ancestors  of  the  embryo  have  passed.  This  is  an  impor- 
tant point  of  proof  of  the  truth  of  evolution,  and  the 
close  parallel,  observable  between  classification  and 
descent  with  modification.  "Community  of  descent  is 
the  hidden  bend  which  naturalists  have  been  uncon- 
sciously seeking,  and  not  some  unknown  plan  of  crea- 
tion, or  the  enunciation  of  general  propositions,  and  the 
mere  putting  together,  and  separating,  objects  more  or 
less  alike."  (Darwin). 

THE  GREAT  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  NATURAL  CLASSIFICA- 
TION.— The  importance  of  the  broadening  advances  of 
biological  discoveries,  from  Linnaeus,  who  studied  life 
forms,  from  their  most  common  and  apparent  outside 
appearances,  to  Darwin  and  Wallace,  who  discovered  the 
methods  and  principles  of  evolution,  cannot  be  over- 
stated. Each  step  in  advance  tended  to  disclose  the 
homology  and  unity  of  all  life  forms.  Cuvier,  and  the 
comparative  anatomists,  made  the  first  step  from  mere 
outside  form  to  structure.  Then  Bichat,  the  wonderful 
genius,  who  died  at  31,  asserted  that  tissue  made  up  the 
bones,  and  flesh  of  all  animals.  Then  Schwann  and 
Schleiden  discovered  that  all  tissue  is  formed  by  cells, 
thus  establishing  the  cell  theory.  Then  Von  Mohl,  and 
Max  Schultz,  showed  that  the  cell  is  lined  with  a  uni- 
versal substance  which  Von  Mohl  named  protoplasm,  and 
Schultz  showed  to  be  common  to  vegetable  and  animal 
life.  This  protoplasm  is  the  basis  of  all  life,  forming  all 
the  parts  of  every  life  form,  while  Darwin  showed  that 


47 


all  life  forms  have  been  derived,  with  modifications,  from 
preceding  forms,  by  variation  and  inheritance.  These 
discoveries  were  made  after  science  broke  away  from  the 
blighting  influence  of  authority,  and  investigations  were 
made  by  the  human  senses  alone;  "the  dark  ages  had 
passed  away,"  and  civilization  had  changed  from  the 
cloister,  to  the  light  and  fresh  air  of  nature;  after  men 
began  to  gain  knowledge  by  actual  experiment  and  the 
study  of  nature. 

These  advances  in  biology  are  paralleled  by  the 
achievements  in  astronomy,  geography,  geology,  psy- 
chology, sociology,  chemistry,  and  natural  ethics ;  all 
done  without  the  aid  of  mysticism  and  finality,  by  the 
natural  brain,  and  peripheral  senses  of  man. 

In  making  classifications,  the  naturalists  had  no 
written  pedigrees  of  the  organisms  to  guide  them,  but 
the  characters,  which  nature  stamped  on  the  forms, 
probably  were  more  instructive,  to  the  trained  classifier. 
These  formed  a  pedigree  without  error,  when  read  ac- 
curately enough  to  formulate  a  true  classification. 

The  advance  made  in  the  method  of  classification 
from  time  to  time,  from  the  purely  artificial  plan  of 
Moses,  down  to  the  more  natural  system  of  Cuvier,  and 
from  him  to  Darwin,  while  not  so  intended  by  the 
classifiers,  yet  at  every  step  showed  more  clearly,  the 
close  genetic  relation  of  all  plants  and  animals.  Had 
these  naturalists  entertained  the  theory  of  descent  by 
modification,  as  taught  subsequently  by  the  theory  of 
evolution,  they  could  only  in  a  few  instances  have  made 
their  classifications  more  complete  evidences  of  that 
theory.  All  classification  not  only  shows  close  affinity, 
accompanied  by  modifications,  but  a  gradual  advance 
from  the  earliest  fossil  forms,  in  heterogeneousness, — a 
constant  multiplication  of  effects,  and  a  development 


48  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

from  the  simple  to  the  complex.  These  are  the 
cardinal  principles  of  the  theory  of  evolution. 

MORPHOLOGY. — Members  of  the  same  class  of  organ- 
isms resemble  each  other  in  the  general  plan  of  their 
organization.  This  is  unity  of  type.  This  is  morphology. 
Darwin  says,  "What  can  be  more  curious  than  that  the 
hand  of  man,  that  of  a  mole,  the  leg  of  a  horse,  the 
paddle  of  a  porpoise,  and  the  wing  of  a  bat,  should  all 
be  constructed  on  the  same  pattern;  should  include 
similar  bones,  in  the  same  relative  positions  ? "  In  some 
degree  all  animals  are  alike  in  some  points,  not  only  in 
form,  but  in  growth. 

A  tiny  round  cell,  in  the  embryo,  as  said  before,  is 
common  to  all,  at  first.  From  that  period,  to  the  adult 
form,  there  are  innumerable  points  of  homology,  and 
more  of  analogy.  The  embryological  form,  common  to 
all  animals,  is  the  first  to  be  developed,  in  any  verte- 
brate ;  this  is  the  formation  of  a  round  ball  of  cells  held 
together  by  a  membrane,  the  gastrula.  Then  follow, 
in  regular  order,  in  the  same  embryo,  as  it  develops, 
the  structures  common  to  the  embryos  of  the  radiata, 
articulata,  mollusca,  and  then  the  vertebrata;  and 
lastly,  appear  the  characteristics  marking  the  species 
to  which  the  embryo  belongs. 

RUDIMENTARY  ORGANS. — And,  on  the  upward  de- 
velopment, each  species  carries  with  it,  in  vestigial 
form,  many  structural  organs,  useful  in  the  lower 
forms,  but  useless,  or  even  harmful  in  the  higher.  In 
the  human  body,  we  have  hair  covering  the  foetus,  and 
shed  prior  to  birth ;  the  thymus  gland ;  the  muscles 
moving  the  scalp,  the  ears,  and  other  parts  of  the  skin ; 
the  peculiar  fold  in  the  tip  of  the  ear ;  the  hair  on  the 
arms ;  the  valves  in  the  horizontal,  and  not  in  the  per- 
pendicular veins ;  the  pineal  gland  in  the  brain ;  the 


ORGANIC   EVOLUTION  49 

semi-lunar  fold  in  the  eye ;  the  coccyx,  or  trace  of  tail 
at  the  end  of  the  vertebral  column;  the  milk  teeth. 
All  these  are  what  are  called  rudimentary  organs. 
None  of  them, — save  possibly  the  pineal  gland, — plays 
any  appreciable  part  in  the  human  economy.  Some  of 
them,  as  the  hair  on  the  arms,  and  the  valves  in  the 
(now)  horizontal  veins,  would  have  been  useful  to  an 
animal  walking  on  all  fours.  Others,  as  the  vermiform 
appendix,  would  be  useful  to  an  animal  whose  diet 
was  chiefly  fruit,  having  four  legs  and  needing  longer 
intestines.  On  the  theory  of  special  creation,  how  shall 
these  rudimentary  organs  be  accounted  for?  Being  of 
no  use  to  the  organism,  why  should  they  have  been 
created  in  it  ?  But  on  the  theory  of  evolution,  by  varia- 
tion and  heredity,  they  are  understandable. 

It  would  seem  difficult  to  name  one  of  the  higher 
animals,  in  which,  some  part  is  not  in  a  rudimentary 
condition.  In  all  mammalia,  for  instance,  the  males  pos- 
sess rudimentary  mammae.  The  teeth  in  the  upper 
jaws  of  unborn  calves,  which  never  cut  through  the 
gums,  and  also,  in  foetal  whales,  there  are  teeth,  while 
the  matured  whale  never  has  any.  How  can  these  be 
accounted  for  by  special  creation?  G-.  H.  Lewes  men- 
tions the  Salamander  which  lives  on  land,  away  from 
water.  Yet,  the  pregnant  female  bears  tadpoles  with 
finely  feathered  gills,  and  if  taken  from  her,  in  the 
embryonic  state,  and  put  in  water,  swim  like  the 
tadpoles  of  the  water-newt.  It  is  stated,  that  in  some 
older  works  on  natural  history  where  authors  were 
believers  in  special  creation,  rudimentary  organs  are 
accounted  for,  by  saying  they  have  been  created,  for 
the  sake  of  symmetry,  or  to  complete  the  scheme  of 
nature.  As  remarked  by  Darwin,  what  would  be 
thought  of  an  astronomer  who  maintained  that  the 


50  UNIVERSAL   EVOLUTION 

satalites  revolve  in  elliptic  courses  round  their  planets, 
for  the  sake  of  symmetry,  because  the  planets  thus 
revolve  around  the  sun?  He  also  remarked,  "It  is 
probable  that  disease  has  been  the  main  agent  in  ren- 
dering organs  rudimentary,  as  in  the  case  of  the  eyes 
of  animals  inhabiting  dark  caverns,  and  of  the  wings 
of  birds  inhabiting  oceanic  islands,  which  have  seldom 
been  forced  to  fly,  have  ultimately  lost  the  power  of 

flying." 

SIMILARITY  OF  PARTS. — In  comparing  one  organism 
with  another,  the  organs,  and  the  parts  of  the  anato- 
my, are  always  in  the  same  order.  In  vertebrates, 
the  names  of  bones  in  one  can  be  applied  to  the  bones 
in  the  same  location  in  another.  Illustration  of  the 
principle  can  be  made  of  the  mouths  of  insects.  How- 
ever different  in  shape,  they  are  all  the  same  mouth,  in 
anatomical  construction.  Darwin  has  shown,  how 
hopeless  it  is  to  try  to  explain  this  similarity  of  plan, 
by  utility,  or  the  doctrine  of  finality.  But  on  the 
theory,  of  the  selection  of  successive  slight  modifica- 
tions,— each  modification  being  profitable  in  some  way 
to  the  organism,  the  explanation  is  easy.  The  common 
progenitor  of  insects,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose,  had 
an  upper  lip,  mandibles,  and  two  pairs  of  maxillae, 
then  natural  selection  would  account  for  the  great 
number  of  variations  from  that  primitive  form.  But 
would  special  creation  of  each  form,  to  be  succeeded 
by  a  new  form  in  the  next  generation,  be  a  reasonable 
supposition  ? 

"Comparative  anatomy  proves  to  the  satisfaction  of 
every  unprejudiced  and  critical  student  the  significant 
fact  that  the  body  of  man,  and  that  of  the  anthropoid 
ape,  are  not  only  peculiarly  similar,  but  they  are  prac- 
tically one,  and  the  same,  in  every  important  respect. 


ORGANIC    EVOLUTION  51 

The  same  two  hundred  bones,  in  the  same  order  and 
structure,  make  up  our  inner  skeleton;  the  same  three 
hundred  muscles  effect  our  movements;  the  same  hair 
clothes  our  skin;  the  same  groups  of  ganglionic  cells 
build  up  the  marvelous  structure  of  our  brain;  the 
same  four-chambered  heart  is  the  central  pulsomer  of 
our  circulation;  the  same  thirty-two  teeth  are  set  in 
the  same  order  in  our  jaws ;  the  same  salivary,  hepatic, 
and  gastric  glands  compass  our  digestion;  the  same 
reproductive  organs  insure  the  maintenance  of  our 
race."  (Haeckel).  And  he  should  have  added,  the 
same  physical,  and  mental  habits;  the  same  sleeping 
and  waking;  the  same  emotions  of  fear,  anger,  and 
effection;  subject  to  the  same  diseases,  and  the  same 
death.  The  same  medicines  have  like  effects,  on  man 
and  monkey,  horse  and  dog.  Under  like  environment 
the  monkeys,  in  less  degree  of  intellectuality  only,  re- 
spond to  like  excitation  of  their  peripheral  nerves,  in 
the  same  manner  that  man  does.  The  evolution  of  man 
has  occurred  just  as  that  of  other  animals.  Darwin 
puts  the  erect  position  of  man,  as  the  result  of  natural 
selection.  This  position  brought  about  correlated  vari- 
ations in  the  body,  as  do  all  heritable  variations.  When 
man  could  make  artificial  tools  for  defense,  his  natural 
tools  degenerated  for  want  of  use,  for  instance,  his 
canine  teeth,  and  jaws.  His  social  instincts  and  in- 
tellect make  up  for  his  physical  weakness,  compared 
with  other  mammals. 

THE  FORMATION  OF  TYPES. — Morphology  is  the  science 
of  life  forms,  as  crystallology  is  that  of  inorganic  forms. 
It  was  of  more  importance  to  Linnaeus  who  largely 
classified  by  its  law,  than  it  is  now,  when  internal 
structure  and  function  are  considered  of  greater  use- 
fulness. It  is  of  very  great  benefit  in  the  science 


52  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

of  evolution,  however,  in  that,  the  forms  of  organisms 
closely  coincide  at  all  points  of  their  development, 
and  especially  in  the  study  of  embryology,  which  is 
also  designated  by  another  word  closely  allied  to 
morphology,  and  that  is  morphogeny — the  genetic 
source  of  form.  When  vital  energy  starts  a  cell  by 
division  into  first  two,  then  four,  and  then  eight  cells 
by  growth,  why  do  these  aggregations  of  prolific  cells 
take  certain  familiar  forms,  instead  of  assuming  some 
other?  There  is  a  wonderful  analogy  in  all  animal 
forms,  but  an  especial  similarity  among  the  higher  or- 
ders. Yet,  at  certain  periods,  in  heredity,  the  form  sud- 
denly changes  in  its  growth,  by  a  more  or  less  varia- 
tion, and  sometimes  by  a  change  so  radical  as  to  form 
a  new  species.  But  however  radical,  in  the  eye  of  the 
naturalist,  the  change  may  be,  yet  the  general  form  of 
the  new  species  is  clearly  in  general  accord  with  all 
life  forms,  or  the  type,  as  it  may  be  called,  of  animal 
life  on  the  globe.  There  is  always  a  conformity  to  the 
local  rhythm,  so  that,  as  said  in  another  place,  the 
organism  can  always  be  divided  through  its  axis  into 
two  equal  halves,  similar  in  form,  at  least,  at  all  its 
points.  It  is  altogether  probable  that  the  life  forms  on 
the  earth  conform  to  the  local  rhythm  of  that  globe; 
and  the  life  forms  of  another  planet,  whose  distance  is 
greater  from  the  sun,  whose  bulk  and  weight  are  dif- 
ferent from  those  of  the  earth,  -would  have  a  typical 
life  form,  correspondingly  different  from  that  of  our 
world.  When  we  shall  know  more  of  the  forces  of 
attraction  and  repulsion,  and  the  rhythm,  compelling 
the  globular  shape  of  matter,  when  it  integrates  into 
solid  forms,  from  that  of  the  earth,  to  that  of  a  germ 
cell  of  an  organism,  we  may  be  able  to  formulate  accu- 
rate sciences  of  morphology.  Yet  the  mere  form  of  an 


ORGANIC    EVOLUTION  53 

organism,  so  corresponds  with  its  qualities  and  attri- 
butes, that  its  mentality  is  clearly  allied  to  its  physi- 
cal features.  How  much  more  interesting  are  the 
antics  and  movements  of  a  chimpanzee,  than  those  of 
a  sloth;  of  ants  and  bees,  than  those  of  a  snail,  or 
worm.  The  forms  of  all  these  are  perfectly  adapted 
to  their  psychical  manifestations.  In  the  same  man- 
ner man,  standing  erect,  with  arms  and  hands  free,  to 
seize  upon  matter,  and  mold  it  as  he  chooses  with  a  far 
range  to  his  vision,  because  he  does  stand  erect,  has 
also  a  mind  corresponding  to  his  shape,  in  its  free 
choice  of  many  methods  open  to  him  to  use  his  supe- 
rior vision,  and  his  free,  well  formed  hands;  while  his 
nearest  brother  in  the  animal  kingdom,  the  orang- 
outang, not  being  able  to  maintain  the  upright  position, 
and  not  having  free  hands,  is  also,  low  in  his  methods 
of  mental  action.  Yet,  the  man  and  the  monkey,  as 
said  above,  are  very  much  alike  in  anatomy,  and  differ 
in  psychical  action,  only  in  degree,  not  in  kind.  The 
chief  difference  between  the  vegetable,  and  the  animal 
forms,  is  that  the  cells  of  the  former  are  bound  in  a 
sac,  the  walls  of  which  are  composed  of  cellulose.  The 
nature  of  cellulose  in  its  character,  as  a  binder,  to  pre- 
vent freedom  of  action,  such  as  an  animal  exhibits,  is 
best  illustrated,  by  saying,  that  cotton,  and  the 
bleached  fibre  of  flax  and  hemp,  are  nearly  pure  cellu- 
lose. The  animal  could  not  have  its  peculiar  charac- 
teristics, if  cellulose  covered  each  cell  of  the  body. 

DEVELOPMENT  OP  AN  EMBRYO. — One  of  the  most 
beautiful  and  wonderful  phenomena  of  nature  is  the 
development  of  the  embryo  of  an  organism.  From 
the  moment  of  fertilization  to  the  maturity  of  the  form, 
it  unfolds  in  the  most  marvelous  manner,  as  if  the  deli- 
cate touch  of  an  artist's  fingers  was  molding  it  into 


54  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

predetermined  shape.  Its  beginning  is  a  minute 
spheroid  which,  seen  under  the  microscope,  reveals 
nothing  resembling  a  pattern  of  what  it  is  to  become — 
only  a  little  sac  of  fluid,  with  a  tiny  dot,  near  the 
center,  called  a  nucleus.  But,  when  it  comes  in  contact 
with  the  proper  sperm  cell,  it  inaugurates  a  movement 
of  its  particles,  and  division  of  its  nucleus,  which  lead 
to  a  geometrical  multiplication  of  the  one  cell,  until 
thousands  and  millions  of  them  are  aggregated  into 
first  one  form,  and  then  into  another,  until  there 
appears  a  heterogeneous  organism  almost  exactly  like 
that  from  which  the  tiny  original  cell  emanated.  So 
marvelous  is  this  development,  that  the  student  is 
struck  with  astonishment,  that  he  does  not  see  the 
sculptor  while  the  work  proceeds.  Yet  it  is  only  an 
invisible  artist,  called  cosmic  energy,  with  the  molding 
power  of  the  universe,  guiding  its  unseen  fingers,  in 
pinching  the  matter  here,  and  pushing  it  out  there, 
placing  the  brain  matter  within  a  hard  protecting 
covering,  and  at  the  fore-front  of  the  body ;  the  wonder- 
ful pulsomer,  and  its  vascular  organs  as  delicate,  in  tis- 
sue, as  a  gossamer  thread,  yet  as  strong  as  steel  bands. 
The  proportions  are  perfectly  preserved  at  every  step ; 
yet  at  the  first  stage  the  student  thinks  it  must  be 
designed  for  a  protozoon ;  at  the  next,  for  a  member  of 
the  articulata,  at  the  next  for  a  vertebrate,  and  so 
through  the  embryological  forms  of  all  animals,  it  at 
last  may  become  the  body  of  a  human  genius,  who  will 
astonish  the  world,  with  his  mental  powers. 

The  same  wonder  can  be  expressed  at  the  formation 
of  a  crystal,  and  from  that,  the  fabrication  of  a  globe, 
like  the  earth.  The  universe  is  an  aggregation  of 
morphological  bodies,  all  made  of  matter  and  motion, 
manipulated  by  the  unseen,  but  marvelous  principle  of 


ORGANIC   EVOLUTION  55 

evolution.  It  is  the  stream  of  movement  in  an  orderly 
development,  in  which  millions  and  trillions  of  integra- 
tions, and  dissipations  occur,  only  a  tiny  part  of  which 
is  seen  by  the  eye  of  man.  This  part  consists  only  of 
that  which  is  useful  to  him  in  the  little  act  he  plays, 
upon  one  of  the  smallest  globes  of  the  universe.  He 
never  sees  the  artist. 

PALEONTOLOGY. — Paleontology  does  not  disclose  the 
beginnings  of  life.  It  reaches  back  in  animal  life  only 
to  the  evolution  of  organisms  with  hard  bodies.  The 
fossil  evidence  from  plant  life  is  less  complete  than 
from  animal  life.  The  former  reaches  back  into  the 
geology  of  the  earth  much  further,  however,  than  does 
the  latter.  The  fossil  forms  of  plants  of  the  earliest 
epochs  must  be  rather  obscure,  and  the  origin  of  them 
is  not  in  evidence.  They  lacked  the  bony  parts  char- 
acteristic of  animals,  by  which  fossil  forms  of  the 
latter  are  preserved  in  the  rocks  of  the  earth. 

EXAMPLES  OP  FOSSIL  FORMS. — Darwin  says  that  the 
evidences  from  geology  are  few  and  scattered;  that 
only  a  small  portion  of  the  earth's  crust  has  been 
penetrated,  and  that  fossil  remains  are  not  so  satisfac- 
tory as  he  could  wish.  But,  when  he  was  in  South 
America,  during  the  voyage  of  the  Beagle,  he  noticed 
that  the  fossil  species,  of  the  region,  were  only  modifi- 
cations of  the  living  species.  The  evidences  have  in- 
creased largely,  and  at  the  present  time,  there  are  groups 
of  the  deer  tribe,  of  the  horse,  and  many  others.  The 
first  ruminants  were  without  horns.  The  first  fossil 
antelopes  in  the  middle  Miocene  had  tiny  horns.  These 
increased  in  size  in  the  later  epochs,  until  the  present. 
There  is  a  progressive  development  of  fossil  deer  horns 
from  the  lower  Miocene  to  the  present.  In  fact,  fossil- 
ized animals  show  the  evolution  of  form  from  the  earliest 


56  UNIVERSAL   EVOLUTION 

specimens  in  the  Cambrian  to  the  Post  Pliocene. 
Romanes  thought  the  evidence  from  Paleontology  is  very 
rich.  Prof.  Marsh's  geological  specimens  prove  the  evo- 
lution of  the  horse,  from  a  very  inferior  form,  in  the 
Eocene  epoch  to  the  fine  forms  of  the  present  day  horse. 
In  each  epoch,  the  feet  were  structurally  adapted  to  the 
then  surface  of  the  earth,  for  locomotion;  and  the  teeth 
to  the  mastication  of  the  existing  food  of  the  period. 
But  the  principal  point  is,  that  each  successive  form, 
was  a  modified  descendant  of  a  preceding  one,  changed 
by  the  natural  method  of  variation  and  heredity.  In 
this  case  of  the  horse  and  his  ancestors,  the  missing 
links  are  produced  by  Prof.  Marsh. 

In  speaking  of  the  missing  links  in  general,  Prof.  Le 
Conte  says,  in  reply  to  the  question,  "Where  are  inter- 
mediate forms?"  "We  answer,  the  intermediate  forms 
are  eliminated  in  the  struggle  for  life,  and  are  not  re- 
produced by  cross-breeding."  This  disposes  of  the  miss- 
ing link.  It  is  absurd  to  talk  of  the  missing  link,  for 
the  further  reason,  that  the  gradations  are  so  gradual,, 
each  modification  has  been  so  slight,  that  it  could  not 
be  perceived  by  the  human  senses,  even  if  it  did  exist, 
except  in  mutations,  and  in  those  there  is  but  one  link, 
which  may  not  be  noticed  in  the  wild  state.  Each 
gradual  change  from  a  low  type,  toward  a  higher  ani- 
mal, would  be  classified  by  naturalists  as  either  a 
variety,  or  a  new  species,  and  would  be  the  missing 
link,  but  unrecognized  as  such. 

Were  all  the  variations  through  which  the  first  form 
has  passed  in  its  development  into  the  species  now 
existing,  before  the  naturalist  for  classification,  the 
whole  might  be  called  one  species  with  innumerable 
varieties.  Agassiz  examined  several  thousand  shells  of 
one  species,  and  found  no  two  exactly  alike.  Those 


ORGANIC   EVOLUTION  57 

species  which  De  Vries  claims  are  formed  by  one  vari- 
ation would  show  no  "links"  when  the  actual  muta- 
tion is  not  seen  in  the  wild  state.  In  fact,  in  mutations 
there  would  be  no  link.  The  derived  form  would  not 
be  recognized  as  a  modification  of  the  preceding  one. 
It  is  for  this  reason  that  De  Vries  makes  his  experi- 
ments upon  domestic  species  entirely. 

VARIATION,  A  LAW. — The  fact  is,  that  variation  is 
a  law  of  nature.  Not  only  two  things  seen  at  the  same 
moment  vary,  but  the  same  thing  seen  in  successive 
moments  is  not  the  same,  to  the  human  mind.  There 
is  a  ceaseless  flow  of  variations,  in  the  attitudes 
and  conditions  of  human  cognition,  and  a  slower 
change  in  the  object.  Our  bodies,  and  especially  the 
physiognomy,  change  from  day  to  day,  not  only  be- 
cause a  real  molecular  change  has  occurred,  but  also 
because  at  each  period  they  are  a  day  older.  Plow 
and  duration  are  said  to  be  the  very  essence  of  reality. 
The  more  stable  an  object  is,  the  more  degenerate. 
The  inorganic  is  on  that  account,  far  less  interesting 
and  important  than  the  organic.  The  latter  moves 
and  reproduces  itself,  then  the  reproduction  is  never 
just  like  the  producer,  and  the  descendants  of  an  organ- 
ism are  not  themselves  alike.  "We  may  say  summarily 
that  there  seems  to  be  a  tendency,  when  experiments 
are  repeated  again  and  again,  for  the  results  to  vary 
more  or  less  about  an  ideal  standard,  form  or  type. 
For  we  may  regard  each  human  individual,  say,  as  a 
repetition  of  the  experiment  of  producing  a  human 
being;  each  rainstorm  as  nature's  repeated  attempt  to 
produce  rain,  etc.  That  many  such  experiments  are 
conducted  simultaneously  does  not  effect  the  logic  of 
the  situation,  just  as  the  result  is  indifferent  whether 
we  toss  one  penny  many  times,  or  many  pennies  at 


58  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

once.  The  examination  of  large  collections,  or  repeti- 
tions of  similar  phenomena,  thus  suggests  that  we 
could  not  discover  from  the  single  case,  namely,  that 
besides  the  general  law  which  says,  'be  so  and  so,' 
there  is  another  which  says,  'be  not  quite  so  and  so.' 
Such  at  least  is  the  superficial  impression  we  get  from 
the  facts."  (W.  H.  Sheldon  of  Dartmouth  College). 
The  only  meaning  of  Time  is  that  it  is  a  change  in 
phenomena.  Phenomenon  itself  is  a  manifestation 
of  movement,  in  the  abstract,  and  movement  is  the 
evolution  of  nature,  with  constant  variations,  and 
the  survival,  but  for  a  short  fleeting  duration,  of  the 
fittest.  Matter  seems  to  be  merely  the  resistant  to  the 
flux  of  reality,  and  forms,  while  they  exist,  the 
momentary  triumphs  of  such  existence.  In  this  sense, 
there  is  a  struggle  in  the  inorganic,  as  well  as  in  the 
organic.  The  seeming  steps  in  the  onward  flow  are 
merely  our  mental  percepts,  and  concepts,  of  the  solid 
forms,  of  which  the  intellect  has  a  constant  apparition. 
A  psychic  being,  above  and  greater  than  intellect,  if 
there  could  be  such,  would  note,  not  the  steps  and 
states,  but  the  whole  movement  and  struggle,  as  a 
movement  only. 

FOSSIL  DISCOVERIES  SINCE  DARWIN. — "Since  the 
'Origin  of  Species'  was  written,  our  knowledge  of  that 
record"  (paleontological)  "has  been  enormously  ex- 
tended, and  we  now  possess,  no  complete  volume,  it  is 
true,  but  some  remarkably  full  and  illuminating  chap- 
ters. The  main  significance  of  the  whole  lies  in  the  fact, 
that  just  in  proportion  to  the  completeness  of  tlie  record 
is  the  unequivocal  character  of  its  testimony  to  the  truth 
of  the  evolutionary  theory.  The  test  of  a  true,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  a  false  theory,  is  the  manner,  in  which, 
the  newly  discovered  and  unanticipated  facts  arrange 


ORGANIC    EVOLUTION  59 

themselves  under  it.  No  more  striking  illustration  of  this 
can  be  found,  than  in  the  contrasted  fates  of  Cuvier's 
theory  and  that  of  Darwin.  Even  before  Cuvier's  death, 
his  views  had  been  undermined,  and  the  progress  of  dis- 
covery soon  laid  them  in  irreparable  ruin;  while  the 
activity  of  half  a  century  in  many  different  lines  of 
inquiry,  has  established  the  theory  of  evolution  upon 
a  foundation  of  ever  growing  solidity.  It  is  Darwin's 
imperishable  glory  that  he  prescribed  the  lines  along 
which  all  the  biological  sciences  were  to  advance,  to 
conquests  not  dreamed  of,  when  he  wrote."  (W.  B. 
Scott).  (1909).  "If  the  doctrine  of  evolution  had  not 
existed,  paleontologists  must  have  invented  it,  so  in- 
evitably is  it  forced  upon  the  mind,  by  the  study  of  the 
remains  of  the  Tertiary  mammalia  which  have  been 
brought  to  light  since  1859."  (Huxley).  In  1909,  fifty 
years  from  the  publication  of  the  "Origin  of  Species," 
the  evidence  must  have  been  very  much  more  complete. 
ADAPTIVE  VARIATION. — It  is  more  than  probable  that 
since  organic  life  first  appeared  upon  the  earth  there 
have  been  many  changes,  in  the  contour  of  the  globe, 
and  consequent  changes  of.  climate.  These  have  pro- 
foundly affected  organisms.  Those  living  on  the  border 
of  the  change,  where  no  barriers  interposed,  were, 
many  of  them,  enabled  to  migrate  to  more  favor- 
able regions.  But  the  great  majority  of  the  flora  and 
fauna  would  give  way  to  changed  conditions,  and  die 
out.  Organisms  better  adapted  would  eventually 
come.  A  few  of  the  more  vigorous  individuals,  of  the 
old  form,  would  survive,  and  gradually  form  new 
habits,  compatible  -with  the  changed  features.  There 
is  not  a  perfect  adaptation  of  all  individuals  in  any 
region,  for  changes  minute  and  gradual,  are  taking 
place  everywhere.  Paleontology  shows  this.  The 


60  UNIVERSAL   EVOLUTION 

fossil  specimens  in  the  different  geological  formations 
are  generally  those  of  extinct  species.  These  have  been 
followed  by  others  in  seemingly  quite  regular  succes- 
sion, each  adapted  for  a  time  to  the  slowly  changing 
environment,  and  especially  to  the  climate,  the  feet  to 
the  surface,  the  teeth  and  digestive  organs  to  the 
natural  vegetation  of  the  period,  the  morphology  to 
the  local  general  features  of  sunshine,  humidity,  com- 
position of  the  air,  the  electric  and  magnetic  condi- 
tions, and  the  necessity  of  any  peculiar  requirements, 
in  the  method  of  obtaining  their  sustentation.  These 
general  principles  of  variation  and  their  causes  run 
through  the  whole  fossil  forms  of  flora  and  fauna.  The 
forms  of  one  period  differed  in  some  particulars  from 
those  of  another,  but  only  in  modification,  not  in  dis- 
continuity, showing  a  close  genetic  affinity  running 
through  the  whole  series,  clearly  indicating  continuous 
descent,  and  not  discontinuous  catastrophism. 

GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION. — Paleontology  can  only 
give  evidence  of  the  evolution  of  species  in  geological 
time.  But  geographical  distribution  furnishes  argu- 
ments from  widespread  location  of  species,  in  earth 
space.  If  the  theory  of  special  creation  were  true,  then 
there  is  no  reason  why  forms,  whether  fossil,  or  living, 
adapted  to  a  given  environment,  should  not  be  found  in 
all  localities,  furnishing  such  environment. 

THE  FAUNA  OF  AUSTRALIA. — For  example,  the  rab- 
bit when  carried  in  ships  to  Australia,  found  itself 
so  well  adapted  to  the  locality,  that  it  overran  the 
island,  until  it  was  declared  a  nuisance.  Other 
mammals  carried  to  the  island  throve  as  well.  Yet  the 
only  mammalian  life  indigenous  to  Australia. — the 
dingo  being  plainly  an  importation, — is  one  of  the 
oldest  and  least  developed  kinds,  the  marsupial.  The 


ORGANIC   EVOLUTION  61 

duckbill  is  a  very  low  form  of  vertebrates,  being  a 
monotreme.  In  Australia  the  forms  of  animal  life 
found  upon  the  discovery  of  the  island  consisted  of 
those  found,  also  fossilized  in  the  Cretaceous  rocks 
elsewhere.  The  inference  is  that,  in  the  Cretaceous 
period,  Australia  was  connected  with  the  continent  of 
Asia,  and  was  then,  or  soon  thereafter  transformed 
into  a  large  island,  but  not  of  sufficient  dimensions  to 
make  geographical  distribution  efficient,  as  an  element, 
in  the  evolution  of  new  species,  from  the  lower  orders 
of  vertebrates  then  existing.  About  one-third  of  the 
island — the  interior, — is  a  desert  without  animal  life. 
If  Australia  had  remained  a  part  of  the  continent  of 
Asia  above,  as  it  is  below  the  surface  of  the  ocean,  the 
same  mammalian  forms  would  have  evolved  there,  as 
in  Asia.  The  absence  of  mammals,  and  the  persistence 
of  marsupials  are  thus  accounted  for  by  natural  cause 
and  effect.  It  was  while  on  the  voyage  of  the  Beagle, 
that  Darwin  noticed  a  similar  anomaly  in  the  fauna 
of  the  Galapagos  Island,  six  hundred  miles  off  the 
west  coast  of  South  America.  The  fauna  there  con- 
sisted almost  entirely  of  birds,  with  three  species  of 
land  tortoise,  and  five  species  of  lizard, — no  mammals. 
But  he  noticed  that  the  forms  of  these  were  very 
closely  related  to  those  on  the  mainland.  The  infer- 
ence was,  that  the  islands  had  been  colonized  by  such 
of  the  continental  forms  as  could  cross  the  intervening 
strip  of  the  sea,  the  birds  by  flying,  the  lizard,  and  the 
tortoise,  or  their  eggs  transported  on  drift  wood,  or 
carried  by  water  direct.  But  why,  if  special  creation 
were  a  fact,  was  there  an  absence  of  such  forms  of  the 
animal  kingdom,  as  could  not  have  been  brought  in 
some  way  from  the  continent?  These  islands  are  as 
well  adapted  to  mammal  life  as  the  continent  is,  and  if 
all  mammals  were  specially  created,  why  not  here? 


62  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

In  the  formation  of  species,  by  evolution  through 
natural  selection,  geographical  distribution  is  one  of 
the  leading  proofs.  When  variations  occur  in  the  off- 
spring, which  enable  them  to  spread  out  over  a  larger 
habitat  than  that  exclusively  occupied  by  the  parent 
stock,  if  they  happen  to  cross  natural  barriers,  either 
of  mountains,  or  water,  isolation  then  takes  place. 
There  is  not  then  apt  to  be  cohabitation  between  the 
parent  stock  and  the  variated  offspring.  In  this  case 
the  existing  species  will  undoubtedly  persist  not  only 
by  virtue  of  the  isolation  alone,  but  be  also  greatly 
assisted  by  the  effect  of  the  new  environment  of  new 
food,  air.  climate  and  all  those  objective  phenomena 
that  act  upon  the  senses.  But  there  seems  to  have  been 
no  new  species  formed  in  Australia  since  the  Cretaceous 
epoch.  The  fauna  of  the  Cretaceous  period  therefore 
persisted.  Had  it  been  possible  for  higher  forms  of 
vertebrates  (mammals)  to  invade  Australia  from  Asia, 
the  Cretaceous  forms  would  not  have  persisted,  at  least 
not  to  a  noticeable  extent,  and  such  of  the  marsupials 
and  monotremes  as  could  cross  with  other  forms,  would 
have  produced  new  species.  For  these  reasons  Aus- 
tralian species  of  animals  remained  of  a  lower  grade. 

The  evidence  everywhere  shows  that  it  is  illogical 
to  conclude  that  species,  anywhere,  was  specially 
created.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  evident  that  organisms 
everywhere  have  a  close  genetic  affinity,  and  spread 
from  locations  to  other  locations,  acquiring  new  char- 
acters. But  when  natural  barriers  existed,  such  as 
water,  mountains,  or  deserts,  these  prevented  the 
natural  distribution,  and  caused  the  persistence  of 
local  forms.  Yet  in  some  instances,  as  in  the  Gala- 
pagos islands,  some  species  could  cross  the  water  and 
still  live  and  grow. 


ORGANIC    EVOLUTION  63 

DISTRIBUTION  OF  VEGETABLE  FORMS. — Especially  is 
the  distribution  of  seeds  of  plants  accomplished  by 
water,  wind,  and  birds.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  dis- 
cuss further  such  wide  distribution  in  the  light  of  its 
being  accessory  in  producing  many  new  variations,  in 
widely  distributed  areas.  Wherever  seeds  are  thus  car- 
ried, and  dropped  in  soil,  and  climate,  not  sufficiently 
different  from  those  from  which  the  seeds  came,  to  pre- 
vent fructification,  there  would  arise  some  variation 
from  the  parent  stock,  due  to  environment,  and  often 
a  great  deal  of  variation.  Experiment  has  shown  that 
many  seeds  are  not  injured  by  passing  through  the  diges- 
tive system  of  birds.  Locusts  carry  tiny  seeds  of  grasses 
from  mainland  to  island,  and  from  island  to  mainland. 

THE  GLACIAL  EPOCH. — The  glacial  epoch  distributed 
the  arctic  flora  as  far  south  as  the  ice  extended,  in  both 
continents.  That  flora  still  remains  on  the  tops  and 
sides  of  mountains,  and  corresponds  today  with  the  same 
species  of  high  latitudes,  in  proportion  to  the  altitude 
of  the  mountains.  For  example,  that  on  top  of  the 
White  Mountains  of  New  England  is  the  same  as  that  of 
Labrador ;  and  that  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  of  the  real 
arctic  regions.  The  lowlands  both  in  Europe  and 
America,  as  the  glaciers  receded,  not  being  congenial  to 
the  seed  left  by  the  melted  ice,  failed  to  produce  the 
arctic  flora,  but  resumed  that  which  was  adapted  to  such 
climate.  The  identity  of  plants,  on  mountain  tops  in 
Europe  and  America,  is  thus  accounted  for  in  a  natu- 
ral way. 

The  importance  of  glaciers  as  geographical  distribu- 
tors of  the  florae  and  faunae  of  the  earth  is  shown  the 
reader  by  Mr.  Croll's  theory  of  the  alternate  and 
rhythmical  occurrences  of  glacial  epochs,  in  the  north 
and  south  hemispheres.  The  period  he  claims  is  about 


64  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

ten  thousand  five  hundred  years.  That  is,  a  glacial 
epoch  follows  another  in  the  northern  hemisphere  in 
about  twenty-one  thousand  years ;  and  also  in  the 
southern  hemisphere  in  the  same  time,  but  each  will 
come  between  the  time  of  the  other.  This  time  cor- 
responds with  the  revolution  of  the  north  magnetic 
pole  of  the  earth  about  the  point  in  the  universe  toward 
which  it  apparently  points.  This  revolution  is  made 
in  twenty-one  thousand  years.  At  opposite  points  of 
this  orbit,  first  one  hemisphere,  and  then  the  other,  of 
the  earth,  is  so  shut  out  from  the  heat  of  the  sun,  and 
the  earth's  orbit  becomes  so  eccentric,  and  so  affects 
ocean  currents,  as  to  produce  a  glacial  epoch.  During 
the  glacial  epoch  in  one  hemisphere,  the  other  has  a 
milder  climate  than  the  normal.  This  is  a  very  curious 
and  important  fact.  These  alternate  cold  epochs  must 
have  a  radical  effect  upon  all  life  upon  the  globe. 

MAN'S  DISTRIBUTION. — Geographical  distribution  is 
illustrated  by  the  way  man  has  spread  over  the  earth. 
He  is  the  animal  which  travels  most,  goes  the  far- 
thest, climbs  the  highest,  burrows  the  deepest.  He 
is  able  to  build  vehicles  on  land,  tame  the  horse,  and 
the  ox,  and  teach  them  to  pull  himself  and  vehicles  to 
whatever  point  he  desires  to  reach.  He  can  construct 
boats  on  the  water,  and  propel  them  by  steam  engines 
to  the  remotest  parts  of  the  earth.  When  a  region  be- 
comes too  thickly  inhabited,  the  young  men  and 
women  emigrate  to  other  regions  less  occupied,  or  not 
inhabited  at  all.  It  is  notorious  how  those  emigrants 
from  Europe  and  Asia  are  now  (1912)  flocking  to  the 
United  States,  and  how  markedly  their  physical,  and 
mental  characters  change  in  the  new  environment, 
especially  in  the  second,  and  subsequent  generations. 
These  changes  are  favorable  variations  in  their  struggle 


ORGANIC    EVOLUTION  65 

for  existence,  and  are  typical  of  the  influence  of  ex- 
ternal conditions,  upon  the  organism  in  producing  new 
variations.  These  facts  are  apparent  to  any  observer, 
who  has  in  view  the  causes,  in  nature,  that  produce 
favorable  changes  in  organisms.  This  is  especially 
noticeable  in  the  children  of  sharp-featured,  awkward, 
heavy-minded  types  of  immigrants;  those  children, 
especially  born  sometime  after  arrival  in  this  country. 
It  is  natural  to  conclude  that  the  difference  in  the 
physical  features  of  the  United  States,  compared  with 
those  of  the  eastern  continent,  has  produced  these  im- 
provements in  the  body  and  mind  of  these  individuals. 
At  least,  this  difference  is  a  large  factor.  There  is 
also  a  difference  in  the  social  environment.  These 
immigrants  have  come  from  a  different  form  of  govern- 
ment, a  monarchy,  or  empire,  where  military  service  is 
compulsory,  -where  the  heavy  hand  of  power  is  con- 
stantly felt,  where  real  personal  liberty  is  a  fiction, 
where  labor  is  poorly  compensated,  and  biting  want, 
and  poverty  are  always  in  evidence;  because  the 
sources  of  life,  such  as  land,  and  its  precious  mineral 
deposits  of  great  value,  are  monopolized  by  a  few,  and 
a  conditional  form  of  slavery,  of  a  great  majority  of 
the  people  always  exists.  They  have  come  to  a  repub- 
lican form  of  government,  where  the  military  spirit  is 
feeble,  where  the  land  is  yet  open,  in  places,  to  the 
home-steader,  where  there  is  little  restraint  of  per- 
sonal liberty;  where,  as  yet,  there  is  ample  room  to 
spread  and  grow;  where  the  means  of  sustentation  are 
easily  procured,  leaving  some  leisure  to  the  worker, 
with  a  fuller  stomach,  and  less  fear,  than  in  the  old 
world.  It  is  natural,  under  these  changed  conditions 
to  attribute  to  these  better  conditions  of  life  the  new 
and  better  physical  and  mental  variations,  which  are 
apparent  in  the  offspring  of  immigrants. 


66  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

SOCIAL  UNITS. — The  facts  above  stated  in  regard 
to  the  advantages  to  the  immigrant,  offered  by  the 
United  States,  constitute  a  variation  in  forms  of 
society,  that  is  a  good  illustration  of  the  principle  of 
natural  selection,  in  states  and  nations.  These  are 
social  units,  and  are  governed  by  the  same  laws  of 
evolution  that  animal  organisms  are.  Those  social 
units  that  happen  to  be  organized  with  a  variation, 
favorable  to  their  struggle  for  existence,  are  the  ones 
to  survive,  and  thrive,  at  the  expense  of  those  states, 
or  nations  not  possessed  of  such  variations.  The  United 
States  has  attracted  to  itself  an  influx  of  millions 
of  people  from  other  countries  in  the  last  fifty  years. 
These  immigrants  have  coalesced  into  the  citizenship 
of  the  country,  and  are  helping  to  make  it  most  pros- 
perous internally,  and  a  world  power  externally.  Why 
did  not  these  immigrants  go  to  Canada,  or  Mexico,  or 
to  South  America,  or  to  Australia?  These  countries 
could  offer  them  free  land  for  homes  and  farming. 
Canada  is  settled  already  by  English  people. — the 
Anglo-Saxon  race, — the  same  as  the  United  States. 
Several  reasons  can  be  given.  With  regard  to  Canada 
the  most  potent  reasons  are  the  rigorous  climate :  and 
it  is  a  colony  of  Great  Britain,  a  monarchy.  As  to 
Mexico  and  South  America  two  reasons  are  sufficient: 
the  unsettled  conditions  of  society  and  government, 
and  the  class  of  people  now  inhabiting  them.  As  to 
Australia,  it  is  a  dependency  of  Great  Britain.  The 
advantages  of  the  United  States  are.  it  is  an  independ- 
ent nation,  its  government  is  republican  in  form,  its 
constitution  is  based  on  the  principle  that  all  political 
power  is  derived  from  the  people,  and  there  is  no  state 
church.  Religion  is  perfectly  free,  its  climate  and  soil 
are  superior;  its  agriculture  is  great.  In  the  struggle 


ORGANIC   EVOLUTION  67 

for  existence  between  nations,  as  in  the  struggle  for 
existence  between  individual  organisms,  natural  selec- 
tion favors  those  variations  beneficial  to  the  nation, 
and  that  nation  will  best  survive,  which  can  best  main- 
tain its  people  in  intellect,  freedom,  prosperity  and 
patriotism.  The  United  States  is  so  far  ahead  of  most 
nations  in  these  requirements  that  there  is  no  doubt  of 
her  perpetuation.  It  is  done  by  the  natural  selection 
of  variations  favorable  to  the  social  organism. 

The  facts  above  given  regarding  the  favorable  im- 
provements in  physical  form  made  by  immigrants  to 
this  country,  caused  by  environment,  will  apply  also  to 
the  geographical  distribution  of  all  organisms  in  space, 
in  different  degrees.  New  environment  causes  a  varia- 
tion in  the  form  of  organisms,  and  especially  in  the 
offspring  they  produce  in  the  new  habitat. 

From  the  very  limited  number  of  examples  of 
geographical  distribution  given  above,  it  can  readily  be 
seen  why  naturalists  have  made  so  free  use  of  its 
significant  illustrations.  It  has  undoubtedly  been  a 
large  factor  in  producing  those  variations,  which  being 
perpetuated  by  means  of  that  most  important  factor 
inheritance,  have  eventually  evolved  into  new  species. 


CHAPTER   III 
THE  METHOD 

THE  preceding  treatment  of  evolution  has  been 
confined  to  data  which  seem  to  support  the 
principle.  But  the  method  is  equally  inter- 
esting. 

DARWIN  AND  WALLACE. — Not  until  Darwin,  did  any- 
one draw  the  same  conclusion,  as  to  the  method,  from 
the  same  well  known  facts  as  he  did,  except  Alfred 
E.  Wallace,  who  published  his  paper  on  Natural  Selec- 
tion simultaneously  with  Darwin's  "Origin  of  Species." 
But  Darwin  undoubtedly  preceded  him  in  the  concep- 
tion of  the  theory.  For  in  1839  Darwin  wrote  a  fore- 
shadowing of  it,  and  was  really  at  that  time  convinced 
that  variation,  and  natural  selection,  formed  the 
principal  method.  He  arrived  home  from  his  voyage 
on  the  Beagle  in  1837;  and  in  1844  he  wrote  the 
"Origin  of  Species,"  very  much  as  published  in  1859. 
Darwin  and  Wallace  both  noticed  that  living  animals 
had  a  close  resemblance,  not  only  to  each  other,  but, 
also,  to  fossil  animals  of  the  same  region.  They  experi- 
mented, by  breeding  domestic  animals,  and  also 
noticed,  that  structural  variations,  from  the  parent 
forms,  appeared  frequently  in  the  offspring.  This  led 
them  to  speculate  and  theorize,  upon  the  probable 
parallel,  between  the  method  in  domestication,  and  that 
in  the  wild  state,  until  they  both  published,  at  the 
same  time,  the  hypothesis  of  natural  selection,  in  the 
survival  of  the  fittest,  as  the  method  by  which  all 
species  had  been  produced.  Their  speculation  how- 
ever, was  inductive,  not  metaphysical.  It  was  the  re- 

68 


69 


suit  of  experiment,  carried  on  extensively  for  years. 
It  was  confined  to  the  realm  of  natural  cause  and 
effect,  and  therefore  scientifically  legitimate. 

There  is  a  metaphysics  of  science,  in  the  sense,  that 
many  things,  like  the  nature  of  the  atom,  or  composi- 
tion of  matter,  or  of  the  medium  called  ether,  are 
speculative.  But  these  are  simply  assumptions  of  the 
unknown  probabilities  of  matter  and  motion,  based  on 
known  phenomena.  There  is  a  very  important  distinc- 
tion between  natural  and  supernatural  metaphysics. 
An  extreme,  and  the  newest  form  of  natural  meta- 
physics is  a  statement  by  Lodge,  "What  electricity 
itself  is  we  do  not  know,  but  it  may  perhaps  be  a  form 
of,  or  aspect  of  matter.  Now  we  can  go  one  step  fur- 
ther, and  say  that  matter  is  composed  of  electricity, 
and  of  nothing  else."  The  use  of  metaphysics  in  the 
ordinary  meaning  of  the  term,  is  confined  to  specula- 
tions in  the  realm  of  the  ' '  Unknowable  Absolute, ' '  where 
no  experiment  can  be  made. 

MALTHUS. — Darwin  was  impressed  with  the  theory 
of  Malthus.  This  is,  that  human  life  increases  in 
geometric  ratio,  while  the  means  of  subsistence  mul- 
tiply only  in  an  arithmetical  ratio.  It  is  a  curious 
coincidence  that  Wallace  should  have  independently 
concluded,  as  Darwin  did,  that  natural  selection  of 
variations  is  the  method  of  evolution,  in  the  organfc 
kingdom,  but  still  more  curious,  that  both  should  have 
been  pointed  to  the  conclusion  by  the  reading  of 
Malthus'  "Principle  of  Population." 

The  theory  of  Malthus  would  seem  to  apply  more 
truly  to  animals  in  the  wild  state  than  to  man,  because 
they  have  no  way  of  artificially  increasing  their  food 
supply,  and  adopt  no  methods  of  their  own  to  restrict, 
or  increase,  reproduction. 


70  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

ANIMALS  UNDER  DOMESTICATION. — Darwin  made  in- 
numerable experiments  on  domestic  animals  and  plants. 
Of  course  he  could  only  set  the  animal  forms  around 
him  to  doing  what  nature  had  always  been  doing,  in 
the  perpetuation  of  wild  animals.  In  domesticity, 
man,  when  making  a  business  of  producing  animals 
and  vegetables  for  his  own  use,  destroys  the  undesirable 
variations,  and  preserves  only  those  useful  to  man.  This 
makes  the  process  of  artificial  selection  operate  only 
more  rapidly  than  natural  selection  does  in  the  wild 
state ;  and  the  changes  that  occur  could  be  seen  by  man ; 
while  natural  selection  producing  individuals  in  the  wrild 
state  adapted  to  the  environment,  for  their  own  benefit, 
away  from  the  vision  of  man,  occupies  such  long  periods, 
and  operates  so  obscurely,  that  man  can  seldom  note 
its  action  directly.  The  object  of  man's  selection  is  en- 
tirely different  from  the  meaning  of  natural  selection. 
Nature  takes  her  own  time,  which  undoubtedly  is  very 
long,  in  most  instances,  in  deriving  a  new  species;  not 
for  the  benefit  of  man,  but  for  the  benefit  of  the  or- 
ganism selected,  and  of  the  race  to  which  it  belongs,  by 
the  preservation  of  those  best  adapted  to  perpetuate 
the  life  of  the  species,  under  the  existing  natural  con- 
ditions. 

Experiments  in  breeding,  both  in  vegetables,  and 
animals,  have  continued  for  many  generations,  by  man. 
Domestic  cattle  have  been  bred  both  for  meat  and  milk, 
almost  ever  since  the  wild  species  were  domesticated, 
by  the  Aryans  and  Semites.  Horses  have  been  domesti- 
cated, and  bred  for  burden  bearers,  for  racing,  trotting. 
carriage,  and  wagon  transportation ;  sheep  for  meat 
and  wool ;  the  hog  for  his  meat ;  chickens  and  turkeys, 
for  meat  and  eggs ;  geese,  for  meat  and  feathers ;  song 
birds  for  their  music  and  beauty;  and  the  other  birds 


THE    METHOD  71 

for  meat  and  beauty.  In  all  instances  of  breeding  in 
domestication,  the  animals  have  been  withdrawn  from 
their  natural  environment,  and  habits,  placed  in  re- 
stricted quarters,  artificially  fed  and  protected,  handled 
by  man  in  every  way  for  an  artificial  result,  which 
nature  never  had  in  view.  Their  habits  were  changed, 
their  natural  way  of  procreation  was  regulated  by  man, 
not  for  any  supposed  benefit  to  the  species  in  its 
struggle  for  existence,  but  for  the  benefit  of  man,  who 
did  the  selecting,  -which  therefore  was  artificial,  while 
in  the  wild  state,  it  is  a  natural  selection.  In  this  arti- 
ficial selection  for  breeding  by  proper  crosses,  many 
new  variations  have  been  produced,  and  apparently 
new  species,  which  breed  true,  as  long  as  the  proper 
selection  continues  to  be  made  by  man.  But  as  soon  as 
the  artificial  selection  is  withdrawn,  and  the  organisms 
are  left  to  their  former  natural  conditions,  the  artificial 
varieties,  and  species,  revert  to  the  former  natural 
species ;  the  variations  then  occur  according  to  the  law 
of  nature,  and  selection  becomes  a  very  different  prin- 
ciple. Man's  artificial  selection  was  done  by  preserv- 
ing and  placing  together  those  males  and  females  which 
showed  the  variations,  or  qualities  -which  would  be  most 
useful  to  him,  in  serving  him  in  his  wants  and  fancies, 
in  life.  For  instance,  a  dairyman  selected  for  his  own 
use,  those  animals  with  the  largest  milk  production,  or 
the  producers  of  the  most  butter;  those  lacking  in 
these  qualities,  he  sold  to  the  butcher.  The  breeder  of 
stock,  for  the  butcher,  selected  for  sire  and  dam,  those 
which  would  cut  up,  when  slaughtered,  into  the  most 
sirloin  and  porter  house  steaks;  the  breeder  of  sheep 
those  that  would  produce  the  most  wool,  or  mutton. 

But  these  methods  of  selection    are    not    those    of 
nature.     The  object  is  different.     Here  animals  of  all 


72  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

kinds  breed  from  those  males  and  females  which 
happen  to  come  together.  The  males  fight  each  other 
for  the  privilege,  and  the  selection  of  the  female,  is 
made  by  the  conqueror.  This  generally  insures  vigor- 
ous offspring,  most  capable  of  surviving,  in  the  struggle 
for  existence.  This  is  the  perpetuation  of  the  strong, 
and  not  the  weak.  Should  any  of  the  offspring  prove  to 
be  weak,  and  unadapted  for  the  rigorous  requirements 
of  a  natural  environment,  they  are  unfit,  and  die.  That 
is,  nature  selects  the  adapted  to  survive,  and  allows  the 
weak,  and  unadapted  to  die.  This  is  natural  selection 
in  the  survival  of  the  fittest. 

BEES. — In  the  procreation  of  bees  another  method 
of  selection  is  adopted.  The  drones  of  the  hive  are  the 
males.  The  queen  bee  alone  is  the  productive  mother. 
The  drones  do  not  fight  for  her  favor.  She  does  the 
selecting  of  the  father  of  the  future  hive.  This  is  her 
method.  When  her  time  arrives  she  informs  all  the 
males,  and  starts  her  flight  straight  into  the  upper  air. 
Her  capacity  for  flight  is  much  greater  than  any  of  the 
males.  They  all  follow  her,  and  one  at  a  time,  accord- 
ing to  their  lack  of  endurance,  fall  out  of  the  race. 
When  there  is  but  one  male  left,  he  being  nearest  the 
queen,  she  returns  to  him.  seizes  him,  and  the  future 
honeymakers  of  a  vigorous  hive,  by  the  fecundation  of 
the  strongest  male,  is  assured. 

As  said  elsewhere,  man  cannot  control  the  innumer- 
able forms  of  cosmic  force,  which  nature  uses,  in  bring- 
ing about  the  phenomena  of  biogeny,  or,  in  fact,  any 
natural  phenomena.  He  has  the  power  only,  which  his 
natural  organization  gives  him,  to  do  the  acts  con- 
ducive to  preserving  his  own  life.  His  methods  of  arti- 
ficial selection  to  produce  new  species,  as  set  forth 
above,  prove  this.  They  are  the  only  methods  open  to 


THE    METHOD  73 

him.  They  are  done  for  his  own  benefit.  He  cannot 
breed  for  the  benefit  of  the  animal. 

THE  MEANING  OP  NATURAL  SELECTION. — For,  man  does 
not  know  just  what  is  for  the  animal's  benefit.  The 
animal  itself  does  not.  Nothing  suffices,  as  far  as  is  now 
discernible,  for  this  purpose,  except  natural  selection, 
and  that  is  a  negative,  not  a  positive  force. 

It  is  not  likely  that  an  increase  in  the  amount  of 
milk  in  the  udder ;  of  prime  beefsteak  in  the  carcass ; 
of  wool  on  the  body ;  or  large  production  of  eggs ;  or  of 
music  in  the  bird,  are  such  variations  as  nature  would 
select  as  being  the  most  beneficial  to  an  animal  in  its 
struggle  for  existence.  So  that,  while  these  artificial 
selections  of  man  are  proper  for  the  purpose,  for  which 
he  does  them,  yet  they  are  only  indirect  evidence  of 
how  real  species  are  formed. 

They  have  shown,  however,  that  selection  will  pro- 
duce new  varieties,  in  inheritance,  and  that  sometimes, 
in  the  vegetable  kingdom,  what  may  be  called  a  new 
species  is  formed,  by  one  variation,  per  saltum. 

All  the  facts,  both  artificial  and  natural,  prove  that 
species  of  both  vegetables  and  animals  are  not  im- 
mutable, and  that  is  the  main  principle,  most  important 
to  be  established.  The  experiments,  in  domesticity, 
have  been  of  great  value,  in  bringing  to  the  eye  of 
man,  empirical  knowledge,  that  the  slow  and  obscure 
process  of  nature  did  not  give.  It  took  the  theory, 
to  a  large  extent,  out  of  much  speculation,  on  account 
of  the  long  time,  as  man  marks  time,  it  was  supposed 
to  take,  to  form  a  new  species,  and  brought  it,  partially 
at  least,  within  his  scientific  control.  When  a  method 
is  seen  from  beginning  to  end  by  man,  then  polemics 
become  superfluous. 

It  is  simply  this,  the  dying  of  the  weak,  seemingly 


74 


to  prevent  their  perpetuation,  and  the  survival  and 
perpetuation  of  the  adapted,  which  we  are  in  the  habit 
of  calling  the  strong.  It  is  not  always  the  most  pow- 
erful animal,,  as  man  looks  at  it,  but  the  animal  which 
possesses  those  qualities,  most  essential  to  defense,  the 
procuring  the  natural  food  for  its  preservation,  and  the 
best  fitted  to  perpetuate  its  kind.  And  this  form,  very 
likely,  is,  also,  best  fitted  to  produce  those  variations 
in  its  offspring,  if  not  in  the  first  generation,  at  least 
at  the  proper  time,  when  such  variations  will  be  of  the 
most  benefit  to  that  species  of  animals,  or  to  the  genus 
to  which  it  belongs. 

Some  of  the  experiments  of  Darwin  on  pigeons,  and 
of  De  Vries  on  vegetables,  may  show  more  than  man's 
mere  physical  welfare  as  the  object.  But  these  merely 
prove  that  if,  in  the  infinite  happenings  of  nature,  in 
the  formation  of  species,  exactly  the  same  individuals 
should  cohabit,  under  the  same  confinement,  and  arti- 
ficial surroundings,  the  same  result  might  happen.  But 
a  bare  statement  of  the  suppositions  shows  the  im- 
probabilities. 

Tower's  experiment  with  the  potato  beetle,  con- 
ducted for,  from  ten  to  twelve  generations,  gave  no 
evidence  of  producing  permanent  changed  types. 

Pearl  tried  to  produce  a  breed  of  chickens  of  high 
egg  laying  capacity.  He  concluded  that  artificial  se- 
lection alone  has  no  effect  in  changing  type. 

The  constant  selection  of  seed  corn  and  seed  wheat, 
have  greatly  improved  the  production  of  these  grains, 
so  valuable  to  man.  But  the  personal  selection  has  to 
be  constantly  renewed  in  order  to  maintain  the  new 
varieties.  This  is  not  what  is  meant  by  natural  selec- 
tion. The  factor  common  to  both  natural  and  artificial 
selection  is.  that  procreation  is  produced  by  natural 


•   THE   METHOD  75 

processes  only  in  both  cases ;  the  environment,  method, 
and  object  of  selection  being  different. 

HYBRIDS. — It  seems  that  all  the  supposed  species 
yet  produced  in  domesticity  easily  cross,  and  their 
hybrids  are  usually  fertile.  This  appears  to  indicate 
that  they  are  not  pure  species.  But  may  not  this  be  the 
result  of  the  manner  of  domestic  breeding?  Man 
brings  together,  sexually,  species,  that  very  likely  in 
the  wild  state,  would  not  be  attracted  to  each  other, 
and,  as  said  before,  in  case  of  animal  breeding,  almost 
universally  man  breeds  for  his  own  benefit,  not  for  the 
animal's.  This,  however,  does  not  solve  the  problem 
of  sterility,  in  some  hybrids,  nor  the  abstract  question 
of  sterility.  In  case  of  the  mule  it  has  been  stated 
that  the  impotence  is  caused  by  the  rudimentary  char- 
acter of  the  sexual  organs. 

Natural  selection,  then,  is  the  preservation  of  the 
favorable  individual,  hereditary  differences  and  varia- 
tions. ' '  An  individual  is  said  to  possess  variation  when 
it  shows  a  character  not  present  in  its  ancestor." 
(Montgomery,  1906).  Variation  shows  in  from  ten  to 
twenty  per  cent  of  all  organic  forms.  Variations, 
neither  useful  nor  injurious,  would  not  be  affected  by 
natural  selection,  except  to  keep  them  in  the  adopted 
form,  when  they  are  perpetuated  by  heredity. 

Says  Huxley:  "In  my  earliest  criticisms  of  the 
'Origin,'  I  ventured  to  point  out  that  its  logical 
foundation  was  insecure,  so  long  as  experiments  in 
selective  breeding  had  not  produced  varieties,  that 
were  more,  or  less,  infertile."  He  means  that  the 
domestic  breeds  would  cross,  which  seems  to  show 
that  they  are  not  real  species,  while  real  natural 
species  would  not.  But  nevertheless,  it  is  a  fact,  that 
artificial  selection  in  domesticity  has  produced,  under 


76  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

the  eye  of  man,  new  forms,  before  unknown,  without 
the  interposition  of  special  creation. 

TRUE  SPECIES  ARE  WILD. — The  great  number  of  slight 
variations,  and  individual  differences,  occurring  in 
domestic  production  do  make  the  fact  stand  out  boldly, 
that  organisms  are  very  plastic  to  hereditary  experi- 
ments. If  it  is  so  in  domesticity,  it  will  be  more  so, 
in  the  wild  state.  In  nature,  the  environment  of  an 
animal,  is  more  variable,  and  trying  to  the  organism, 
than  in  domesticity.  Under  the  care  of  man,  animals 
are  less  liable  to  accidents,  and  if  not  used  for  food, 
more  liable  to  die  a  natural  death.  They  are  protected 
from  their  natural  enemies.  Those  that  survive  in  the 
wild  state  are  certainly  more  liable  to  be  the  survival 
of  the  fittest,  for  the  coddling  by  man  results  in  pre- 
serving both  weak  and  strong;  but  nature  does  no 
coddling.  We  know  that  an  immensely  larger  number 
of  individuals  are  born  in  nature  than  can  possibly 
survive.  So  that,  it  is  here,  that  the  true  test  of 
natural  selection  must  be  made,  where  the  factors  en- 
tering into  the  test  are  so  many  and  so  acute ;  that  the 
investigator  has  a  wide  field  of  complex  and  obscure 
phenomena  from  which  to  draw  his  conclusions.  It  is 
here,  that  organisms  having  any  variation  giving  them 
an  advantage  in  the  struggle,  would  be  the  ones  to 
thrive  and  procreate.  A  variation,  injurious,  would 
greatly  handicap  the  individual  possessing  it;  would 
soon  die,  and  leave  the  field  to  the  better  equipped. 
That  is  the  nature  of  natural  selection.  It  is  the  de- 
scription of  a  condition,  not  a  force.  It  is  not  creative 
like  the  causes  of  variation  and  heredity.  It  is  the 
survival  and  the  thriving  of  the  well  fitted,  and  the 
dying  out,  for  the  lack  of  natural  tools  useful  in  pro- 
ducing the  necessaries  of  life,  of  the  deficient. 


THE    METHOD  77 

As  numbers  increase,  there  arises  a  struggle  for  ex- 
istence. This  struggle  results  in  favor  of  those  organ- 
isms best  fitted  to  spread  out  over  more  territory,  and 
adapt  themselves  to  new  sources  of  sustenance,  and  to 
new  conditions  of  life.  If  animal  life  continually  in- 
creased, and  no  deaths  occurred,  it  would,  in  a  com- 
paratively short  time,  fill  the  whole  earth,  and  devour 
all  means  of  subsistence.  This  would  destroy  all  animal 
life.  But  only  the  best  fitted  have  survived;  the  less 
fit  have  been  overcome. 

When  variations  occur  in  the  offspring  which  are  of 
benefit  to  them  in  obtaining  food,  or  in  increasing  their 
means  of  defense  of  life,  such  variation,  if  it  become 
heritable,  is  continued.  That  is,  nature  selects  that  for 
continuance.  That  is  natural  selection.  The  result 
has  been  a  constant  progress  from  the  weak  to  the 
strong,  from  the  simple  to  the  complex,  from  the  com- 
paratively homogeneous  to  the  heterogeneous.  The 
principle  cani  be  illustrated,  by  the  gradations  of 
nerve  structure  in  the  organisms,  from  the  nerveless 
protozoa,  to  the  brain  of  man.  The  latter  is  complex 
in  his  mental,  as  well  as  in  his  physical  structure,  and 
therefore  has  almost  infinitely  wider  relationship  with 
his  environment,  than  has  the  former.  He  therefore 
'has  the  knowledge  and  power  to  sustain  himself  in  a 
much  higher  degree  than  any  other  animal.  He  is, 
therefore,  better  fitted  to  survive,  under  any  and  all 
conditions;  while  the  trilobite,  for  instance,  could  sur- 
vive only  under  one  condition,  and  that  a  very  lowly 
environment,  from  the  Cambrian  to  the  last  of  the 
Carboniferous  periods.  This  holds  good  with  all 
grades  of  animal  life  in  proportion  to  the  complexity 
of  the  nerve  structure. 

Death   is   an  important  factor  in   the  principle   of 


78  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

natural  selection.  Those  organisms  which  die  prema- 
turely, are  the  unadapted,  the  unfit.  The  strong,  and 
adapted,  are  the  ones  which  survive.  The  old,  who 
die,  are  those  who  were  adapted,  and  fit  at  one  time, 
but  have  become  unfit,  by  the  changes  in  their  struc- 
ture. 

VIGOR  IN  THE  OFFSPRING. — All  the  methods  of  nature 
in  reproduction  are  those  that  will  produce  vigor  in  the 
offspring,  so  that  the  strong  only  are  perpetuated.  In 
this  way,  also,  a  certain  per  cent  of  the  young  are  found 
to  vary  from  their  parents  in  certain  organs  and  char- 
acteristics. These  are  termed  variations.  If  these  are 
found  upon  trial,  to  be  beneficial  to  the  organisms, 
possessing  them,  in  their  efforts  for  capturing  food,  for 
self  defense,  or  procreation,  then  naturally  these  varia- 
tions are  preserved,  and  in  many  instances  are  inherited 
by  the  offspring.  The  latter  may  also  have  additional 
variations  useful  to  them,  added  to  those  inherited  from 
their  parents,  which  still  further  aid  them  in  the 
struggle  for  existence. 

The  accumulation  of  useful  heritable  variations  thus 
occurring,  generation  after  generation,  will  finally  pro- 
duce a  form  so  different  in  its  anatomy  and  physiology, 
from  the  original  parents  of  the  first  variation,  that  a 
new  species  results.  One  test  of  a  new  species  is,  that 
it  is  less  likely  to  cross  with  other  species  than  with  its 
own.  However  this  may  be,  and  there  seem  to  be  ex- 
ceptions, the  theory  of  natural  selection  of  variations 
in  nature  in  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  is  the  most 
reasonable  one  to  account  for  the  origin  of  species. 

Given  heredity  and  variation,  or  as  Haeckel  calls 
it,  adaptation,  then  natural  selection  simply  means,  the 
continuation  of  the  favorable,  and  the  dying  out  of  the 
unfavorable.  Among  the  lower  organisms  especially, 


THE    METHOD  79 

it  is  apparent  that  favorable  always  means  those 
variations  that  can  easiest  procure  the  means  of  sub- 
sistence, and  this  is  called  the  survival  of  the  fittest. 
So  that  the  full  definition  is:  Evolution  by  natural 
selection  in  the  survival  of  the  fittest.  It  will  become 
evident  by  careful  study  that  this  method  is  really  the 
only  one  adapted  to  build  up  a  strong,  enduring,  and 
capable  species,  or  race,  so  far  brought  forward.  In 
doing  this,  new  species  naturally  result  from  the  adap- 
tations constantly  being  made. 

ENVIRONMENT  NON-ADAPTIVE. — The  big-horned  sheep 
is  the  boldest  mountaineer  among  animals,  in  the 
Sierras  of  western  America.  He  possesses  many  anatom- 
ical and  physiological  features  that  contribute  toward 
his  special  adaptation  to  his  habitat.  His  coat  of  hair 
is  of  such  thickness  and  density,  that  when  he  lies,  at 
night,  upon  a  bed  of  snow,  the  heat  of  his  body  makes 
no  impression  on  his  frozen  bed.  He  is,  therefore, 
unconscious  of  a  low  temperature.  His  stomach  is 
adapted  to  the  digestion  of  mountain  verdure.  His 
body,  legs,  and  hoofs,  are  adapted  to  climbing,  or 
descending  steep,  rocky  cliffs,  or  jumping  great  chasms, 
or  leaping  from  the  edges  of  precipices.  The  believer 
in  special  creation  will  contend  that  this  animal  was 
created,  with  this  kind  of  a  body  and  coat,  to  enable 
him  to  lead  his  peculiar  life,  in  such  a  region.  That  is, 
that  his  habitat,  and  adapted  morphology  were  pre- 
determined, or  designed.  But  the  evolutionist  says, 
that  the  sheep's  primitive  ancestor  was  not  formed  as 
he  is.  Neither  was  his  habitat,  nor  the  mountain 
region,  at  first,  in  the  shape  it  now  is,  nor  was  its  tem- 
perature always  Arctic,  nor  much  different  from  the 
contiguous  territory.  As  the  mountainous  region  has 
been  evolved  by  gradual  changes  in  altitude,  by  slow 


80  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

uplifts,  or  alternate  subsidences,  in  the  earth's  crust. 
in  its  terrestrial  adjustment  to  the  constant  shrinkage 
of  the  globe  as  it  lost  heat ;  so  the  big-horned  sheep  has 
been  evolved  from  its  primitive  ancestor,  to  its  present 
form,  by  a  series  of  variations,  in  its  hereditary  an- 
atomy and  physiology;  and  that  those  variations  best 
adapted  to  the  environment,  or  habitat,  were  the  ones 
to  survive  and  perpetuate  themselves.  The  unadapted 
variations  gradually  died  out  as  the  evolution  pro- 
ceeded. While  the  environment  changed,  from  time  to 
time,  under  the  same  evolutionary  law  of  constant  re- 
adjustment to  new  conditions,  due  to  the  condensation 
of  the  matter  of  the  sun  and  earth,  yet  the  environ- 
ment is  the  more  constant,  and  persistent  factor,  the 
animal  being  the  more  mobile,  and  variable,  and  incon- 
stant factor. 

In  evolution  the  environment  never  adapts  itself  to 
the  animal,  not  even  to  so  complex,  and  seemingly 
powerful  an  organism  as  man.  If  it  did,  then  there 
would  be  no  natural  selection  in  the  evolution  of  organ- 
isms. The  surface  of  the  earth,  the  temperature,  the 
humidity,  and  many  other  forms  of  the  environment 
are  in  constant  change.  But  there  is  no  change  of  any 
kind  ever  taking  place  with  reference  to  an  adjust- 
ment of  the  total  environment  to  the  welfare  of  man.  as 
man  himself  views  his  welfare.  The  wind  is  not  tem- 
pered because  the  shorn  lamb  needs  a  higher  tempera- 
ture. For  instance,  when  the  glacial  spoch  had  covered 
the  northern  hemisphere  with  ice,  all  life,  in  that  region, 
not  adapted  to  that  condition,  was  destroyed;  only 
the  Arctic  flora  and  fauna  could  survive. 

The  shepherd  has  his  flock  shorn  in  the  spring  time, 
when  the  subsequent  natural  temperature  is  rising  into 
the  heat  of  summer.  But  it  is  absurd  to  say  that  this 


THE    METHOD  81 

natural  condition  is  designed  for  the  purpose  of  pro- 
tecting the  shorn  lamb,  or  any  other  organism.  When 
a  considerable  change  occurs  in  any  region  inhabited 
by  animals,  some  of  them  may  be  so  organized  as  to 
survive  the  change.  Some  of  them  may  migrate  to 
other  regions,  adapted  to  their  existing  forms.  But 
whatever  occurs  in  the  complex  and  sometimes  slow 
changes  of  both  animal  life  and  environment,  the  life 
forms  must,  in  order  to  survive,  become  adapted  to  the 
environment,  unless  they  happen  to  be  already  so 
adapted. 

The  mutual  correspondence  between  the  animal  and 
its  environment  brings  about,  what  we  call  an  evolution 
in  the  order  of  all  life  forms,  by  which,  the  necessary 
forms  of  present  races  correspond  with  the  present 
natural  conditions  of  the  earth's  surface;  and  the 
great  differentiation  in  species,  now  inhabiting  the 
earth,  is  accounted  for,  in  a  logical  manner,  by  descent 
with  modification.  Not  only  the  observations  of 
naturalists  on  the  methods  of  nature,  but  the  artificial 
experiments  of  breeders,  prove  that  species  are  mutu- 
able,  at  least  within  certain  limits  of  variability. 

UNIVERSALITY  OF  NATURAL  SELECTION. — Persistent 
types,  being  so  well  adapted  to  every  change  in  the  en- 
vironment, have  no  variation  because  none  of  the  sup- 
posed causes  of  variation,  inherent  tendency,  polarity, 
mutation,  sexual  selection,  use  or  non-use,  and  the  more 
potent  of  all,  external  conditions,  which  means  simply 
environment,  is  powerless  to  effect  any  change  of  form. 
But  natural  selection  operates  here  as  elsewhere,  in  keep- 
ing a  form  so  well  adapted  in  the  adapted  form,  with- 
out the  necessity  of  variation.  In  other  words,  natural 
selection  is  the  principle  of  adaptation,  and  is  equally 
efficient  in  sudden,  or  slow,  and  minute  variations,  or  in 


82  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

case  of  persistent  types,  no  variation  at  all.  Neither  is 
it  confined  to  the  evolution  of  new  biological  forms. 
When  the  atoms  of  the  nebula,  from  which  the  solar  sys- 
tem was  evolved,  selected  the  proper  direction  of  move- 
ment, which  finally  resulted  in  the  condensation  of  the 
atoms  into  the  present  forms  of  the  solar  system,  that 
was  a  process  of  natural  selection  which  has  character- 
ized that,  and  all  other  atoms  in  every  combination  they 
have  since  made,  whether  into  molecules,  ids,  physio- 
logical units,  ions,  biogens  or  electric  discharges. 
Nature,  itself,  is  a  selective  process,  by  which  inte- 
gration, and  dissipation  are,  for  the  time  being,  always 
adapted  in  every  locality,  and  in  every  phase  of  them, 
to  the  requirement  of  the  universe  as  a  whole. 

Darwin  confined  his  work  to  organisms,  and  did  not 
elaborate  this  feature  of  natural  selection,  as  above 
stated.  Yet  the  reader  will  recognize  that  the  principle 
has  a  very  wide  application,  and  may  thus  be  recognized, 
in  the  minds  of  naturalists,  a  universal  one. 

SEXUAL  SELECTION. — Whether  the  process  of  organic 
evolution  is  accounted  for  by  natural  selection,  which 
Darwin  defines  as  the  preservation  of  variations  favor- 
able to  the  individual,  in  its  struggle  for  existence;  or 
by  sexual  selection,  which  contributes  to  the  perpetua- 
tion of  the  race;  or  by  the  use,  or  disuse  of  parts,  yet 
all  these  processes  elaborately  discussed,  also  by  Darwin, 
are  natural,  as  contradistinguished  from  special  creation. 
It  seems  also,  that  they  could  all  be  classified  under  the 
head  of  natural  selection,  in  which  case  the  definition 
should  be  enlarged  to  read,  the  adaptation  of  individual 
variations  favorable  to  the  organism,  in  its  struggle  for 
existence,  and  to  the  propagation  of  a  strong  race. 

In  sexual  selection,  such  as  occurs  when  the  males 
fight  for  the  females,  and  the  latter  almost  uncon- 


THE    METHOD  83 

seiously  take  up  with  the  conqueror,  or  as  has  been  said 
in  case  of  the  bee,  when  the  female  makes  the  choice, 
there  is  little  difference  between  natural  and  sexual 
selection.  It  is  always  a  natural  impulse,  according  to 
a  law  of  nature,  which  determines  the  parentage  in 
such  instances. 

As  said  by  Mr.  Darwin.  "In  most  cases  of  this  kind 
it  is  impossible  to  distinguish  between  the  effects  of 
natural  and  sexual  selection."  If  there  occur,  in  the 
brain  of  a  bird,  for  instance,  a  variation  of  structure 
making  it  a  lover  of  the  beautiful,  as  is  the  case  of  the 
bower  bird;  while  that  fact  may  not  seem  to  us  to 
materially  aid  the  bird  in  its  struggle  for  mere  exis- 
tence, yet  it  undoubtedly  does  so,  in  the  maintenance 
of  the  correspondence  of  its  aestheticism,  with  a  similar 
aesthetic  environment. 

Certain  humming  birds  decorate  their  nests  with 
great  taste.  But  the  bower-bird  in  Australia,  exhibits 
the  most  decided  love  for  the  beautiful  in  the  construc- 
tion of  its  bower.  ' '  The  satin  bower  bird  collects  gaily 
colored  articles,  such  as  the  blue  tail  feathers  of  the 
parrakeets,  bleached  bones  and  shells,  which  it  sticks 
between  the  twigs  or  arranges  at  the  entrance.  *  *  * 
These  objects  are  continually,  carried  about  or  re- 
arranged, by  the  birds  while  at  play. ' '  (Darwin) . 

The  beautiful  plumage  of  some  male  birds,  and  the 
fine  forms  of  larger  size,  characteristic  of  males,  gen- 
erally, throughout  the  animal  kingdom,  are  an  aesthe- 
tic, as  well  as  a  physical  contribution  to  the  perpetu- 
ation of  the  strong  in  biological  evolution.  The  love  of 
the  beautiful  is  shown  in  all  animals,  where  sexual 
selection  is  apparent.  This  applies  to  mammals,  birds, 
reptiles,  fishes,  insects  and  crustaceans.  It  is  thus 
shown  that  the  perpetuation  of  the  races  is  largely  in- 


84 


fluenced  by  it.  Indeed,  as  sexual  selection  has  been  a 
large  factor  in  the  evolution  of  animal  forms,  and  as 
the  most  vigorous  and  beautiful  males  are  the  ones  who 
display  the  most  artistic  variation,  it  follows  that  the 
love  of  the  beautiful  is  biologically  connected  with 
the  preservation  of  the  individual,  and  the  race.  The 
female,  by  accepting  the  most  virile  male,  as  shown  by 
his  fine  form,  gaudy  colors,  and  his  triumph  over  his 
rivals,  thus  insures  the  same  qualities  in  her  offspring, 
and  thus  produces  favorable  variations  in  such  off- 
spring, which  being  inherited  from  generation  to  gen- 
eration, builds  up  a  race  of  increasing  strength.  These 
variations,  also,  tend  all  the  time,  to  the  slow  produc- 
tion of  new  species. 

ETHICS. — The  same  truths  follow  from  the  facts  of 
ethics,  or  altruism.  The  struggles  and  the  sacrifices 
made  by  the  males  ,in  winning  the  females  are  more 
than  equalled  in  the  female  care  of  the  offspring. 
Fatherhood  and  Motherhood,  in  nearly  all  animal  life, 
are  full  of  illustrations  of  the  great  principle  that  all 
function,  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest,  is  based  upon 
the  preservation  of  the  individual,  or  the  race.  Even 
the  lowest  vegetable  takes  special  care  of  the  seeds  for 
its  future  propagation,  by  placing  them  in  the  most 
protected  places  in  the  fruit,  and  elsewhere,  provides 
them  with  the  means  of  suitable  sustenance,  and 
sufficient,  for  their  maintenance,  during  their  most 
helpless  period.  In  other  words,  not  only  is  the  organic 
form  as  a  physical  unit,  the  result  of  biological  evo- 
lution, but  thought,  reason,  memory,  aesthetics,  ethics. 
and  altruism,  have  the  same  basis.  In  the  present  form 
of  civilized  society,  with  the  family  as  a  unit,  living  in 
homes,  the  more  beautiful  and  attractive  those  homes 
are  made,  so  much  are  they  adapted  to  prolong  the 
lives  of  the  individuals,  and  perpetuate  the  race. 


THE    METHOD  85 

The  main  point  is,  however,  that  all  these  causes  and 
effects  are  within  the  realm  of  natural  law,  and 
the  theory  does  not  require  the  investigator  to  assume 
any  other.  Evolution  is  a  theory  which  scientists 
have  generally  adopted,  not  entirely  because  of  its 
capability  of  conclusive  demonstration,  but  because  it 
requires  less  assumption,  than  any  other.  It  depends 
upon  the  manifestations  of  phenomena  only,  for  its 
verification,  and  not  upon  assumptions  of  either  cause, 
or  origin. 

PROTECTIVE  FEATURES. — When  the  insects  on  a  black 
space  are  black,  and  on  a  white  space  white,  when 
those,  on  green  leaves,  are  green,  and  on  the  bark  of 
a  tree,  or  shrub,  or  seaweed,  grey;  when  the  animals 
of  an  arctic  region  are  white,  and  those  on  heather 
moor  are  reddish  brown,  it  will  be  found  that  the 
variations  of  color  are  not  caused  by  the  similar  tints 
of  the  environment,  except  in  a  very  limited  degree, 
but  that  all  natural  colors  of  these  organisms  are  born 
with  them  in  their  different  habitats.  But  those  which 
are  black  on  a  white  ground,  being  conspicuous  are 
devoured  by  their  enemies,  and  the  white  ones  left, 
because  they  are  inconspicuous.  This  is  natural  selec- 
tion. It  is  the  same  with  the  other  colors,  the  con- 
spicuous individuals  are  devoured,  and  those  corre- 
sponding to  the  color  of  their  back  ground  are  pre- 
served. The  exception  to  this  law  is  that  some  species 
of  insects  are  distasteful  to  the  insect  eater,  and  these 
are  preserved  in  all  the  colors  natural  to  them.  These 
distasteful  ones  are  apt  to  have  more  or  less  imitators, 
as  is  well  known,  for  example,  among  certain  butter- 
flies. Certain  individuals  have  the  form  and  color  of 
the  leaves,  or  twigs,  on  which  they  feed,  and  thus 
escape  destruction  by  being  inconspicuous.  These  are 


86  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

facts  showing  that  variations  of  this  character,  so 
favorable  to  the  individuals,  are  preserved  and  perpetu- 
ated, while  those  which  are  devoured,  failing  to  have 
the  favorable  variations,  are  not  perpetuated.  They 
are  fine  examples  of  the  way  in  which  natural  selection 
operates. 

Color  has  entered  largely  into  the  action  of  natural 
selection,  in  protective  resemblance,  warning  colors, 
and  mimicry.  In  contrast  with  the  facts,  above  set 
forth,  regarding  the  protective  features,  by  which  cer- 
tain animals,  whose  color  prevented  them  from  attract- 
ing those  which  prey  upon  them,  the  colors  of  flowers, 
on  the  other  hand,  are  the  means  of  attracting  to  them, 
those  insects  necessary  to  their  fertilization.  It  seems, 
for  instance,  that  the  red  clover  would  die  out  if  it 
were  not  kept  fertilized  by  the  bumble  bee. 

The  rattlesnake  of  the  mountains  and  plains,  is  al- 
most exactly  the  color  of  the  ground.  The  lion,  and 
the  tiger  have  adaptive  colors,  which  not  only  protect 
them,  but  enable  them  to  approach  their  prey  with 
more  security.  A  very  wonderful  example  of  pro- 
tective coloring  and  form,  is  given  by  Professor  E.  B. 
Wilson  of  a  mollusk  living  on  floating  seaweed — sar- 
gassum.  A  piece  of  sargassum  had  been  in  a  glass  jar 
in  the  laboratory  for  sometime,  and  no  one  had  noticed 
the  mollusk  attached  to  it.  Someone  looking  closely 
at  the  sargassum,  exclaimed  "why  the  sea  weed  is  mov- 
ing its  leaves."  The  fact  was  disclosed  by  a  closer 
examination.  The  animal  was  about  two  inches  long. 

Mr.  Bates,  a  collector  of  butterflies  for  eleven  years, 
was  frequently  deceived  by  a  Leptalis,  which  imitated 
the  flock  of  Ithomia  with  which  it  mingled.  When  he 
caught  specimens  of  each,  supposing  from  the  external 
resemblance  that  they  were  the  same,  he  found  them  to 
be  very  different  in  essential  structure. 


THE    METHOD  87 

A  curious  fact  is,  that  an  imitator  is  never  found 
living  apart  from  the  form  which  it  imitates.  The 
mocked  forms  are  distasteful  to  the  birds,  which  eat 
butterflies,  but  the  mockers  are  tasteful,  and  are  there- 
fore not  found  in  large  groups.  The  survivors  of  the 
edible  groups  are  the  mockers,  and  thus  escape  being 
devoured. 

Natural  selection  is  merely  a  term,  and  perhaps  not 
a  very  apt  one,  to  indicate  the  process  going  on  in  a 
state  of  nature  by  which  particular  forms,  assumed  by 
matter  and  motion  are  perpetuated,  or  persist,  while 
other  such  forms  do  not  persist.  It  is  so  analogous  to 
what  theology  has  ascribed  to  a  personal  creator,  or 
to  what  man  does  in  breeding  animals,  or  in  cultivat- 
ing vegetables  in  a  garden,  that  Mr.  Darwin  and  Mr. 
Wallace,  both  called  it,  "Natural  Selection."  Mr. 
Spencer's  term  "survival  of  the  fittest"  better  de- 
scribes the  fact,  and  seems  also  to  make  the  process 
appear  less  a  matter  of  personal  intelligence,  which 
the  word  selection,  in  one  sense  implies.  The  term 
"natural  selection"  however,  does  not  imply  the  crea- 
tion of  something  out  of  nothing,  and  therefore  it  is 
not  a  full  substitute  for  the  theological  conception  of 
a  personal  creator.  It  does  not  even  create  forms 
from  matter  and  motion.  When  forms  come  into  ex- 
istence by  the  unknown  tendencies  of  what  we  call 
the  rhythm  of  motion,  and  condensation,  the  perpetua- 
tion of  some,  and  the  annihilation  of  others,  is  the  pro- 
cess we  call  "natural  selection." 

WEISSMAN. — Natural  selection  does  not  produce  varia- 
tions, nor  does  it  cause  heredity,  although  Weissman 
adopted  a  theory  that  variations  are  produced,  by  the 
selective  process  in  the  determinants  of  the  germ  plasm. 
Weissman  is  a  very  bold  and  interesting  writer  upon 


88  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

evolution,  and  defends  very  ably  the  theory  of  natural 
selection.  He  applies  the  selection  theory  to  the  deter- 
minants located  in  the  ids  of  the  germ  plasm.  An  id 
is  the  bearer  of  the  hereditary  qualities.  Thousands 
of  the  determinants  go  to  the  make-up  of  an  id.  They 
are  so  small  that  they  are  invisible  under  a  microscope, 
but  they  feed,  grow,  and  multiply  by  division.  These 
determinants  control  the  parts  of  the  developing  em- 
bryo. They  differ  among  themselves.  Those  of  a 
nerve  cell  differ  from  those  of  a  muscle.  These  tiny 
determinants  are  made  up  of  yet  smaller  units,  called 
biophers,  or  bearers  of  life.  These  determinants  vary 
in  growth,  and  give  rise  to  corresponding  variations  in 
the  organs,  cells,  or  cell  group,  of  the  organisms,  into 
which  they  develop.  They  ceaselessly  fluctuate  in  size 
and  quality,  because  of  their  unequal  nutrition.  Like 
blades  of  grass  in  a  meadow,  they  vary  in  accordance 
with  the  different  amounts  of  nutriment  carried  to 
them.  Weissman  says,  "  If  a  determinant ;  for  instance, 
of  a  sensory  cell  receives  for  a  considerable  time,  more 
abundant  nutrition,  than  before,  it  will  grow  more 
rapidly — become  bigger  and  divide  more  quickly;  and 
later,  when  the  id  concerned  develops  into  an  embryo, 
this  sensory  cell  will  become  stronger,  than  in  the 
parents."  This  is  the  way  he  accounts  for  variations 
in  organisms. 

If  this  theory  is  correct,  then  there  is  a  natural 
selection  going  on  in  the  ids,  determinants,  and  bio- 
phers, by  which  the  fittest  to  produce  the  most  vigorous 
organisms  do  the  work,  produce  the  variations,  and 
when  the  new  forms  are  born,  then  the  same  principle 
of  natural  selection  works  in  preserving  some  and 
annihilating  others.  This  is  a  very  fascinating  and 
plausible  theory.  But  it  is  too  speculative  to  be  ap- 


THE    METHOD  89 

proved  by  Haeckle,  Spencer,  Gegenbauer,  or  Kolliker, 
all,  very  able  naturalists. 

THE  WORK  OP  HUGO  DE  VRIES. — Hugo  De  Vries,  of 
Amsterdam,  contends  that  species  are  formed  by  varia- 
tion and  heredity,  but  that  the  process  is  not  a  slow 
adaption  of  minute  variations.  He  contends  that  the 
species  is  constituted  by  the  required  variation  from  the 
parent  stock  at  once.  This,  Darwin  recognized  as  a 
"sport."  Whether  this  is  true  or  not,  in  all  instances, 
it  does  not  invalidate  the  principle  of  evolution,  by  the 
survival  of  the  fittest,  in  the  struggle  for  existence.  The 
theory  of  De  Vries  simply  shortens  the  process  of  the 
same  essential  facts  of  Darwin's  theory  in  certain 
domestic  classes  of  primroses.  Some  writers  have  as- 
serted that  De  Vries  undermined  Darwin's  theory.  The 
following  extracts  will  disprove  those  assertions. 

De  Vries  says:  "Those  individuals  survive  that 
find  their  life  conditions  most  favorable,  and  they  are 
therefore  the  most  vigorous.  Natural  selection,  in  the 
struggle  for  existence,  between  the  newly  originated 
elementary  species  is  quite  different.  These  originate 
suddenly,  unmediated,  and  multiply  themselves,  if 
nothing  stands  in  the  way,  because  they  are,  for  the 
most  part  completely,  or  in  a  high  degree  heritable. 
If  then  the  increase  leads  to  a  struggle  for  sustenance, 
the  weaker  succumb  and  are  rooted  out." 

"I  do  not  pretend  that  the  production  of  horticul- 
ture novelties  is  the  prototype  of  the  origin  of  new 
species  in  nature.  I  assume  that  they  are,  as  a  rule, 
derived  from  the  parent  species,  by  the  loss  of  some 
organ  or  quality,  whereas  the  main  lines  of  the  evolu- 
tion of  the  animal  and  vegetable  kingdom  are,  of 
course,  determined  by  progressive  changes."  This  is  a 
very  significant  admission  of  De  Vries.  It  means  that 


90 


simple  forms  like  the  primrose  are  easily  and  quickly 
mutated  by  the  dropping  out  of  a  character,  but  that 
this  is  not  the  way  that  changes  occur  in  the  animal 
kingdom.  He  makes  the  distinction  between  "fluctua- 
tions," which  constitute  one  type,  and  always  occur- 
ring, but  are  not  of  value  in  forming  new  species,  and 
"mutations,"  which  happen  to  occur  from  time  to 
time. 

Mutations  do  not  necessarily  produce  greater  changes 
than  fluctuations,  but  such  as  may  become,  or  rather  are, 
from  their  very  nature,  constant.  He  says:  "Some 
authors  have  tried  to  show  that  the  theory  of  mutation  is 
opposed  to  Darwin's  views.  But  this  is  erroneous.  On 
the  contrary  it  is  in  the  fullest  harmony  with  the  great 
principle  laid  down  by  Darwin." 

He  says  that  in  natural  selection,  environment  usually 
plays  the  larger  part. 

"Even  if  saltatory  variations  do  occur  we  cannot 
assume  that  these  have  led  to  forms  which  are  capable 
of  survival,  under  the  conditions  of  wild  life. "  *  *  * 
(August  Weissman).  He  remarks,  in  the  same  connec- 
tion, that  the  experiments  of  De  Vries  with  the  evening 
primrose,  were  made  with  the  artificial,  not  the  wild 
plant.  It  was  first  discovered  in  the  Jardin  des  Plantes. 
in  Paris,  and  does  not  appear  to  exist  anywhere  in 
America,  as  a  wild  species. 

Alfred  M.  Girard  says :  "A  great  number  of  biologists 
have  believed  that  they  found  in  the  splendid  studies  of 
De  Vries,  unanswerable  arguments  against  the  theory  of 
selection.  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  share  their  opinion. 
I  should  say,  even  in  examining  the  question  closely,  and 
in  penetrating  to  the  bottom  of  the  matter,  it  is  im- 
possible for  me  to  find  in  the  theory  of  mutations,  any- 
thing except  a  useful  complement  of  the  Lamarkian  and 
Darwinian  doctrine  of  continuous  variation. ' ' 


THE    METHOD  91 

Now,  if  by  the  mutation  theory  of  De  Vries,  any  one 
or  more  of  these  causes  of  variation,  produces  suddenly  a 
sufficient  variation  to  establish  per  saltum  a  new  species, 
its  perpetuation  will  depend  upon  its  adaptation  to  its 
environment,  and  this  is  the  process  of  natural  selection. 
It  is  probable  that  some  species  of  vegetables  are  sud- 
denly formed  by  one  jump.  But  is  it  not  more  probable 
that  Darwin  is  correct  that  most  species,  in  the  natural 
state,  have  been  formed  by  the  survival  of  slow  minute 
hereditary  variations  upon  which  the  principle  of  natural 
selection  could  operate. 

The  difference  between  the  theory  of  Darwin  and  De 
Vries,  is  not  that  between  evolution,  and  special  crea- 
tion. Both  believe  in  the  evolution  of  species.  De 
Vries  transfers  "natural  selection"  from  the  evolution 
of  species,  to  the  preservation  of  it.  Either  theory  is 
in  accordance  with  the  thesis  of  this  book.  It  is  held 
by  De  Vries,  that  every  few  years  variations  appear, 
as  if  there  is  an  inherency  of  such  tendency,  and  that 
when  these  variations  do  come  they  are  the  new  species. 

It  would  be  exceedingly  interesting  to  follow 
De  Vries  further  in  his  exposition  of  his  mutation 
theory,  but  space  will  not  permit.  He  does  say  this, 
however,  "The  origin  of  new  species,  which  is  in  part 
the  effect  of  mutability,  is,  however,  due  mainly  to 
natural  selection."  It  is  probable  that  the  method  of 
natural  selection  is  the  most  important,  if  not  the  only 
method,  by  which  the  great  variety  of  species,  now 
occupying  the  land  and  water,  have  come  about.  Of 
course,  variations,  whether  inherent,  or  brought  about 
by  external  causes  and  heredity,  are  essential  factors 
with  natural  selection  in  the  evolution  of  new  species. 

But  the  causes  of  variation  must  not  be  identified 
with  natural  selection.  The  latter  follow  the  former,. 


92  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

and  simply  determine  what  shall  survive,  and  what 
shall  die.  If  the  species  is  formed  at  once  by  mutation, 
it  may  be  the  result  of  some  combination  of  conditions, 
both  internal  and  external,  that  is  not  of  sufficient 
permanence,  in  time  and  space  both,  to  insure  its  long 
survival.  Natural  selection  then  annihilates  it,  as  soon 
as  the  conditions  of  its  origin  are  modified.  It  seems 
plausible  that  sudden  "sports"  or  jumps  of  this  kind, 
made  in  domesticity,  are  apt  to  be  ephemeral.  But  a 
species  in  the  wild  state  that  has  developed  gradually, 
has  had  time  to  be  tested  in  a  sufficiently  widespread 
variability  of  climate,  soil,  in  abundant,  or  scant  sus- 
tentation,  in  calm  and  storm,  to  be  pretty  certain  of 
permanence. 

VARIATIONS  ARE  OF  FORM. — It  must  be  understood  the 
variations  upon  which  natural  selection  operates  are  not 
fanciful,  unseen,  or  artificial  changes  in  the  cells  only 
of  the  body,  or  internal  organs,  or  in  the  psychical  de- 
vice, giving  the  individual  a  life  separated  in  its 
sources  from  the  old  form,  a  new  way  of  develop- 
ment of  the  germ  cell,  nor  do  they  change  any  per- 
sistent law  of  nature  relative  to  man's  relation  to  his 
environment.  They  are  plain  common  sense  changes 
of  form,  color,  size,  or  in  the  neural  arcs,  by  which  a 
new  nerve  is  added,  or  a  new  connection  is  made,  by 
which  the  speed  is  increased,  or  a  greater  tendency  to 
caution,  or  a  keener  use  of  the  peripheral  sense  is  in- 
duced. If  an  increase  occur  in  the  size  of  a  muscle,, or 
a  bone,  the  legs  of  a  growing  animal  shortened,  or  his 
body  made  more  compact,  or  more  power  put  in  the 
digestive  surface,  or  in  the  thickness  of  the  skin,  and 
the  density  of  the  hair  on  the  skin,  to  better  withstand 
cold  and  rain,  it  is  readily  seen  that  all  these  are  of  bene- 
fit to  the  individual ;  and  if  future  variations  of  the  same 


THE    METHOD  93 

parts  are  added  by  inheritance,  to  future  offspring, 
how  immensely  the  organism,  in  time,  will  become 
changed  in  its  morphology  from  what  it  was  in  its 
ancestors.  For  the  law  of  correlation  is  that,  when  one 
part  of  the  body  is  changed,  other  parts  are  also  altered, 
to  maintain  the  equilibrium  of  the  whole.  Of  course, 
not  all  the  changes  that  occur  are  useful,  and  if  not, 
are  not  likely  to  be  hereditary. 

If  they  are  injurious  they  decrease  the  chances  for 
survival  of  the  organism.  Immense  numbers  born, 
never  arrive  at  maturity,  and  therefore  are  not  per- 
petuated. But  from  all  the  facts  so  far  discovered, 
there  is  little  doubt,  that  in  the  long  ages,  that  organ- 
isms have  lived,  the  immense  number  of  varieties,  and 
species,  have  come  about  by  reason  of  slow  and  minute 
changes,  on  which  natural  selection  in  the  survival  of 
the  fittest,  has  operated,  or  by  so  sudden  a  change  of 
all  the  parts  in  one  generation,  as  to  form  a  new  spe- 
cies. As  said  by  De  Vries,  "Eventually  all  the 
acquired  characters,  being  transmitted  together,  would 
appear  to  us,  as  if  they  had  been  simultaneously  de- 
veloped." It  seems,  that  when  minute  variations  are 
of  sufficient  importance  to  induce  correlation  of  other 
parts,  the  germ  cells  must  take  notice,  as  it  were,  of 
so  significant  a  change,  and  hand  it  down  to  the  next 
offspring.  But  the  eye  of  man  -would  not  likely  notice 
the  changes,  until  they  had  accumulated  sufficiently, 
to  suddenly  produce  so  noticeable  a  new  form,  as  to 
be  recognized,  as  a  new  species.  Reversions,  as  no- 
ticed further  on  in  Mendelism,  may  prove  that  many 
characters  are  carried  in  the  recessive  biophers,  for 
several  generations,  without  showing  in  the  interme- 
diate forms,  but  then  suddenly  appear.  May  not 
accumulations  of  characters  be  thus  carried  and  all 


94  UNIVERSAL   EVOLUTION 

appear  at  one  time  as  in  mutation?  Reversions  may 
also  prove  that  variations,  not  useful,  may  be  carried, 
like  rudimentary  organs,  for  several  generations,  and 
then  suddenly  disappear. 

Natural  selection  acts  as  a  sieve;  it  does  not  sift 
out  the  best  variations,  but  it  simply  destroys  the 
larger  number  of  those,  which  are.  from  some  cause  or 
another,  unfit  for  their  present  environment.  In  this 
way,  it  keeps  the  strain  up  to  the  required  standard, 
and,  in  special  circumstances,  may  even  improve  them. 
(De  Vries.) 

SPONTANEOUS  GENERATION. — There  are  many  authors 
who  write  on  biology  and  evolution  in  a  very  learned 
way,  who  discredit  natural  selection,  as  a  method  of 
evolution.  These  dwell  very  learnedly  on  the  mode  of 
appearance  of  living  units  from  non-living  matter, 
and  the  innate  tendency  of  living  matter  to  variation. 
They  believe  that  archebiosis  and  heterogenesis  fre- 
quently occur.  "Variation"  is  only  another  term  to  ex- 
press these  two  modes  of  bio-genesis.  Archebiosis  is 
really  spontaneous  generation,  or  the  formation  of 
protoplasm  from  inorganic  elements.  Heterogenesis  is 
the  production  of  a  different,  and  more  complex 
form,  and  function,  from  that  of  its  progenitors. 
Both  of  them,  therefore,  can  be  termed  methods 
of  variation.  "Organic  polarity"  and  "mutation" 
belong  to  the  same  category.  They  are  theoretical 
causes  of  variation,  and  simply  express  an  unknown 
process  of  change,  by,  either,  continuous,  or  discon- 
tinuous growth.  It  is  so  with  "seasonal  dimorphism." 
There  are  three  other  factors  of  evolution  mentioned 
by  Bastian,  and  also  by  Darwin,  viz.,  "sexual  selec- 
tion," the  "effects  of  use  and  non-use,"  and  "the  direct 
influence  of  external  conditions."  These  are  all 


THE    METHOD  95 

causes  of  variation,  and  when  variation,  and  heredity, 
are  combined  in  one  process,  the  continuation,  or  per- 
petuity, of  the  varied  forms  depends  wholly  on  adap- 
tability, or  natural  selection.  Therefore,  natural  selec- 
tion is  not  a  cause  of  variation.  It  makes  no  difference, 
whether  the  cause  of  any  given  variation  has  operated, 
by  way  of  the  determinants  of  Weissman,  or  in  any 
other  manner,  natural  selection  only  begins,  where  all 
the  causes  of  variation  leave  off.  For  instance,  if 
sexual  selection  produces  a  variation  from  either,  or 
both  parents,  which  is  beneficial  to  its  possessor,  in 
the  struggle  for  existence,  and  that  variation  proves 
hereditary,  then  its  continuance  is  a  selective  process. 
Or,  if  a  variation  arise  by  use,  or  non-use  of  some  of 
the  bones,  muscles,  or  internal  organs,  of  an  animal, 
and  that  variation  becomes  hereditary,  then  its  contin- 
uance is  a  selective  process,  and  the  individuals  of  the 
same  species  who  have  not  the  same,  or  an  equally 
efficacious  variation,  will  naturally  die  out  by  the 
increase  of  the  ones  who  inherit  the  valuable  variation. 

Darwin  did  not  claim  that  natural  selection  was  a 
cause  of  variation,  although  it  has  been  stated  that 
he  did. 

ORIGIN  OP  ORGANIC  MATTER. — Evolutionists  do  not  pre- 
tend to  account  for  the  origin  of  matter  and  motion,  nor 
of  life,  because  they  have  no  sensory  proof.  Bastian 
says  :  ' '  The.  inorganic  is  being  continually  fashioned 
into  the  organic,  and  this  after  passing  through  succes- 
sive changes,  and  after  having  displayed  the  manifesta- 
tion of  life,  is  ever  passing  again  into  the  inorganic." 
But  this  assertion,  that  the  inorganic  is  being  con- 
tinually fashioned  into  the  organic,  must  be  taken  to 
mean,  that  after  the  birth  of  organisms  naturally  from 
egg-cells,  their  development  is  caused  by  accretion  of 
inorganic  matter. 


96  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

There  is  no  doubt,  in  the  minds  of  many  investigators, 
that  the  earliest  form  of  life  on  the  globe  was 
spontaneous,  although  now  life  forms  appear  to  arise 
only  from  the  germ  cell  of  a  previous  form.  Yet  there 
are  naturalists,  Haeckel  and  Bastian,  for  instance,  who 
think  there  are  still  spontaneous  minute  organisms 
appearing  at  the  bottom  of  the  oceans.  There  is  little 
doubt,  but  that  organisms  arose  from  inorganic  sub- 
stance, as  heretofore  stated.  Of  this,  there  is  little 
direct  proof.  But  the  fact  that  all  organisms,  so  far 
analyzed,  have  shown  no  constituent  elements,  except 
the  inorganic,  is  very  strong  evidence.  The  experi- 
ments of  Professors  Loeb  and  J.  B.  Burke  in  the 
chemical  laboratory,  lead  strongly  to  the  same  con- 
clusion. Yet,  it  is  doubtful  if  ever  real  life  forms  will 
be  produced  by  the  chemistry  of  the  laboratory.  We 
know  at  the  present  time,  that  a  thousand  eggs,  or  seeds 
are  formed  that  do  not  germinate  and  grow,  for  every 
one  that  develops  and  lives.  So  it  was,  in  the  beginning 
of  life.  All  the  incipient  beginnings,  of  any  life  forms 
may  have  died  out,  for  a  very  long  period,  before  all 
the  conditions  became  just  right  for  growth  into 
matured  forms.  And,  of  course,  there  arose  simultane- 
ously, with  the  forms,  the  conditions,  that  is,  the  means 
of  their  sustentation.  It  could  not  be  otherwise.  But 
the  simultaneity  may  not  have  been  exact,  with  the 
edible  plants,  and  the  plant  eaters.  It  is  altogether 
likely  that  it  was  more  of  a  co-incidence  without  any 
special  design,  that  is,  in  the  Miocene  epoch,  there  were 
the  plants,  and  the  animal  forms  that  devoured  them. 
When  a  naturalist  landed  on  the  island  of  Madagascar 
he  found  a  certain  plant,  with  a  flower,  which  required 
for  its  fertilization  an  insect  with  a  bill  six  inches  long, 
and  he  at  once  said,  there  must  be  such  an  insect.  So 


THE    METHOD  97 

there  was.  But  the  insect  did  not  require  the  plant 
for  its  support.  The  germs  of  the  plant  would  have 
died  out  without  the  insect.  But  neither  of  them  was 
especially  designed  for  the  other.  The  probable  fact 
is,  that  the  form  of  flower  on  the  plant  was  a  variation 
produced  by  a  natural  cause  that  had  no  reference 
whatever  to  the  existence  of  the  insect  with  the  long 
bill.  But,  the  insect  in  its  casual  flight  among  the 
vegetation  of  the  island,  alighted  on  this  new  variety 
of  flower,  and  in  feasting  on  its  sweets  carried  its  pollen 
to  another  of  the  same  variety,  and  thus  started  a 
growth  which  will  continue  as  long  as  the  soil  and 
habitat  produce  both  the  flower,  and  the  insect.  The 
only  parallel  here  is  that  both  forms  are  adapted  to 
each  other  to  this  extent,  and  that  parallel  is  very  un- 
usual, and  noticeable.  It  is  precisely  the  same 
principle,  that  governs  all  evolutions.  Variations  are 
continually  appearing  in  all  hereditary  forms,  whose 
cause  is  rather  obscure,  and  those  that  find  the  con- 
ditions as  favorable  as  did  that  of  the  deep  petaled 
orchid  of  Madagascar,  in  the  means  of  fertilization  and 
growth,  in  the  long  billed  insect,  live  and  spread.  But 
those  that  fail  to  come  in  contact  with  such  means,  die 
out,  and  most  of  them  are  never  noticed,  as  are  those 
that  live,  especially  in  such  a  striking  way  as  the  above 
mentioned  orchid.  If  there  were  any  design  in  such 
evolution  of  life  forms,  would  not  the  designer  bring 
into  existence  only  such  forms  as  can  survive  with  the 
means  at  hand,  and  not  waste  such  an  innumerable  host 
of  incipient  organisms,  as  we  see  dying  every  year  ? 

It  seems  there  existed  in  the  inorganic  world  after 
its  evolution  to  a  certain  condition,  four  elements — 
carbon,  nitrogen,  oxygen,  and  hydrogen — which  -were 
so  explosive,  or  unstable,  that  the  inertness  of  a  solid 


98  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

form  could  not  hold  them  in  its  grip.  Impelled  by  the 
radiating  energy  of  the  sun,  the  carbonic  acid  of  the 
earth  was  forced  to  yield  its  carbon  to  a  new  substance 
which  we  now  call  chlorophyl.  This  also  was  enabled 
to  fix  the  nitrogen  of  the  air.  But  this  double  function 
seemed  too  onerous  for  the  vegetable,  thus  primitive 
in  its  origin.  So  it  seems  to  have  transferred  the  fix- 
ation of  nitrogen  to  the  organisms  called  microbes. 
The  microbe  converts  the  ammoniacal  compound  into 
nitrous  ones,  and  these  again  into  nitrates.  This  split- 
ting up  of  a  tendency,  primitively  one.  rendered  the 
vegetable  world  the  same  kind  of  service  that  vege- 
tables have  rendered  animals.  The  microbes  which  put 
the  nitrates  to  the  roots  of  the  vegetables  in  shape  of 
soil,  served  the  vegetable  kingdom,  just  as  the  latter 
did  the  animal  kingdom,  by  furnishing  to  the  animal 
kingdom  both  the  carbon  and  the  nitrogen,  the  two 
most  important  elements  in  the  evolution  of  life.  This 
vegetable  life,  which  preceded  animal  life,  would  be 
impossible  without  the  chlorophyllian  function  of  vege- 
tation. This  power  of  vegetables,  to  fix  the  carbon  in 
the  inorganic  kingdom,  is  at  the  root  of  organic  life, 
and  the  necessary  forerunner  of  all  life  evolution. 

It  is  said  that  vegetables  and  animals  represent  two 
great  divergent  developments  of  life.  They  do  this 
only  in  the  sense  of  having  some  notable  differences  of 
characteristics,  in  outward  form  only.  Intrinsically,  the 
evolution  is  one.  For,  as  shown  above,  there  is  a 
mutual  dependence  on  each  other,  in  such  way,  that  the 
one  could  not  exist  without  the  other.  The  line,  per- 
haps, cannot  be  demonstratively  drawn,  to  show  that 
the  animal  evolved  directly  from  the  vegetable,  as  the 
evolution  of  the  vegetable  cannot  be  shown  directly, 
from  the  inorganic ;  but,  there  is  such  a  vital  connection 


THE    METHOD  99 

running  from  the  latter  to  the  highest  organic  form, 
that  there  could  not  be  complete  dissociation,  without  a 
fatal  result  to  all  evolution.  Forms  of  evolution  are 
divergent,  only  as  a  family  kinship  is  divergent,  in  mak- 
ing, with  its  outgrowing,  the  form  of  a  tree,  and  its 
branches.  It  is  after  all  only  a  straight  line  of  descent, 
with  modifications  in  the  members  of  it. 

BERGSON. — Some  philosophers  and  scientific  writers 
have  opposed  the  method  of  evolution  advocated  by 
Darwin  and  Spencer.  The  most  recent  and  radical  of 
these  is  Henri  Bergson,  whose  views  have  met  with 
great  favor  in  France,  and  with  some  thinkers  in 
America,  William  James,  for  instance.  Bergson  admits 
that  science  is  compelled  by  the  nature  of  the  intellect, 
to  treat  evolution  according  to  the  logic  of  mathe- 
matics, that  is  by  measurements  of  matter.  The  in- 
telligence, or  intellect,  acts  only  on  matter.  This  is 
taking  the  products  of  evolution,  with  which  to  prove 
evolution.  It  is,  says  Bergson,,  necessary  to  invoke 
intuition,  growing  out  of  intelligence,  and  instinct,  in 
order  to  determine  that  all  forms  of  extension  are 
mere  snapshots  of  the  creative  process,  and  represent 
the  conflict  going  on  between  the  flux  of  universal  con- 
sciousness, and  matter.  Intuition  dives  into  the  flux  of 
life  which  is  guided  by  a  "vital  impetus,"  which,  how- 
ever, is  not  endowed  with  design.  There  is  no  teleology. 
Science,  he  says,  is  mathematical,  theology  is  teleologi- 
cal,  or  finalistic.  Neither  is  true  in  philosophy,  which 
is  metaphysical.  He  believes  nature  has  been  evolved, 
but  not  from  without,  by  a  continuous  process  of  in- 
tegration, but  by  discontinuity  and  division,  from  a 
center  to  a  circumference.  In  doing  this  matter  has 
impeded  it,  and  the  material  bodies  are  degradations. 

This  is  anti-mtellectualism,  and  is  partially  parallel 


100  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

with  the  theological  idea  of  finality,  but  does  not,  as 
does  the  latter,  assume  a  final  cause.  It  takes  a  pecul- 
iar idealistic  form  of  brain  to  adopt  the  Bergson 
philosophy.  Most  people  can  better  understand  the 
inductions  of  the  senses,  rather  than  the  intuitions  of 
metaphysics.  It  is  not  likely  that  many  men  will  ever 
be  able  to  transcend  intellect.  What  is  beyond  the 
reach  of  that,  could  not  perhaps  be  useful  to  human 
requirements.  Is  it  not  therefore  better  to  remain 
within  the  reasonable  domain  of  our  senses,  than  to  try 
to  cultivate  mere  imagination? 

MENDELISM. — Numerous  theories  of  variation  have 
been  advanced  from  time  to  time.  Weissman  advo- 
cated what  he  called  amphimixis.  This  is  the  com- 
mingling of  protoplasms  from  different  parents  having 
different  hereditary  tendencies.  The  crossing  of  two 
individuals,  as  far  removed  from  each  other  in  char- 
acteristics, as  is  possible,  but  not  too  far,  to  insure  their 
hybridization,  or  breeding,  would  naturally  result,  one 
would  think,  in  producing  the  most  variation.  Ex- 
periments have  proved  that,  "in  and  in"  breeding  re- 
sults in  lack  of  variation  in  the  offspring,  except  in 
the  form  of  degeneration.  It  either  degrades,  or  fixes 
a  type  similar  to  the  parents. 

In  1866  Gregor  Johann  Mendel,  a  naturalist,  and  an 
Austrian  priest,  published  an  account  of  his  experi- 
ments in  breeding  garden  peas.  He  crossed  two  races 
or  varieties,  to  find  what  the  result  would  be  in  several 
generations,  in  the  distribution  of  the  characters  of  the 
parents,  to  the  offspring.  He  was  evidently  very  care- 
ful, and  able  in  his  experiments.  "He  found  that  the 
cross  bred  plants  raised  from  these  seeds  manifested 
only  one  of  the  characteristics,  which  he  calls  the 
dominant,  to  the  total,  or  almost  total,  exclusion  of  the 


THE    METHOD  101 

other,  which  he  called  recessive.  The  second  gener- 
ation produced  from  the  cross  bred  plants,  which  were 
allowed  to  fertilize  themselves,  instead  of  being  uni- 
form, like  their  parents,  broke  into  two  original  forms, 
in  the  average  ratio  of  three  dominants,  to  one  reces- 
sive. The  recessives  are  pure,  and  if  allowed  to  fer- 
tilize themselves  give  rise  to  recessives  only,  for  many 
generations.  One-third  of  the  dominants  are  also  pure, 
while  the  other  two-thirds  produced  descendants  of 
which  two-thirds  are  dominants,  and  one-third  piire 
recessives.  Each  successive  generation  consists  of 
dominants  and  recessives  in  the  ratio,  for  each  one 
hundred,  of  twenty-five  dominants  of  pure  blood, 
twenty-five  recessives  of  pure  blood,  and  fifty  domin- 
ants, which  produced  descendants  in  the  ratio  of  three 
dominants  to  one  recessive." 

Mendel  reduced  this  principle  to  a  mathematical 
formula.  For  a  long  time  naturalists  paid  little  at- 
tention to  this  law.  But  a  few  years  ago  it  was  re- 
vived by  Bateson  and  De  Yries. 

The  latest  expression  upon  this  law  came  from  a 
practical  breeder,  Prof.  Webber  of  Cornell  University. 
He  says :  "No  discovery  in  the  field  of  breeding  has  had 
more  effect,  or  is  more  far  reaching,  in  its  importance, 
than  the  discovery  of  what  have  now  become  to  be 
knoAvn  as  Mendel's  principles  of  heredity. 
The  law  of  segregation  has  shown  us,  that  the  splitting 
of  characters  follows  a  definite  method,  and  that  we  can 
in  general  estimate  the  frequency  of  occurrence  of  a 
certain  desired  combination,  if  we  know  the  characters 
concerned,  to  be  simple  unit  characters.  *  *  *  We 
can  now  study  the  characters  presented  by  the  differ- 
ent varieties  of  a  plant,  or  of  different  species,  which 
can  be  crossed  with  it,  and  definitely  plan  the  com- 


102  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

bination  of  characters  desired,  in  an  ideal  type,  and 
can  with  considerable  confidence  estimate  the  number 
of  plants  it  will  be  necessary  to  grow,  to  get  this  com- 
bination." 

The  great  importance  of  this,  in  breeding  varieties 
of  grass  and  vegetables,  for  the  use  of  man,  and  in 
determining  the  cause  of  variation  in  all  organisms,  is 
apparent  from  the  statement  itself.  Mendel  died  in 
1884  without  knowing  that  his  name  has  been  immor- 
talized, in  that  given  to  the  principle, — Mendelism. — 
and  has  been  attached  to  a  discovery  that  will  revolu- 
tionize the  ideas  before  held,  as  to  causes  and  times  of 
appearance  of  variations  in  heredity.  The  principles, 
he  discovered,  were  rediscovered  in  1900  by  De  Vries. 

The  hybird,  resulting  from  the  crossing  first  made  by 
Mendel,  although  showing  only  the  characteristics,  of 
one  of  the  parents — the  dominant,  yet  contained,  also 
the  other,  invisible — the  recessive.  Both  characters 
are  present  within  all  the  seeds.  Castle,  Davenport 
and  others,  experimented  with  animals.  These  tend 
to  support  the  principle,  and  make  it  into  a  law.  It  is 
of  great  importance  to  establish  a  principle  that  germ 
cells  remain  pure  however  mixed,  and  transmitted,  and 
that,  as  long  as  they  are  transmitted,  their  type  of 
organism,  from  which  they  first  came,  will  continue  to 
live.  The  names  of  Weissman  and  Mendel  stand  high 
in  the  theories  of  heredity. 

With  plants,  and  a  few  animal  forms,  self  fertil- 
ization is  frequent.  But  there  is  no  exclusive  ap- 
paratus wrhich  prevents  an  occasional  cross.  In  case 
of  plants,  their  fixed  locations  necessitate  a  means  of  self 
fertilization.  But  being  exposed  to  winds,  and  other 
natural  mediums,  for  conveying  pollen,  an  occasional 
cross  occurs.  These  crosses  are  the  probable  source 


THE    METHOD  103 

of  variations,  and  therefore  a  general  law,  reaching 
every  form  of  organic  life.  This  is  rendered  more 
probable  by  the  discovery  by  De  Vries  that  variations 
appear  periodically,  and  are  then  quite  distinct. 

DARWIN'S  SAGACITY. — Scientists  are  now  very  much 
more  amply  equipped  for  the  solution  of  the  problems 
of  evolution  than  Darwin  was,  but  it  is  wonderful  how 
his  interpretation  of  his  wealth  of  facts  has  stood  the 
test  for  more  than  a  half  century  of  critical  investiga- 
tion by  the  ablest  men  of  genius.  The  wealth  of  material 
now  is  incomparably  greater  than  in  his  time.  It  is 
found  that  the  principle  of  evolution  becomes  more  firmly 
established,  and  that  only  here  and  there  is  his  method, 
and  an  occasional  inference  therefrom,  challenged. 

Selenka's  investigations  of  embryos,  of  different 
groups  of  monkeys,  have  filled  up  the  blank  in  Dar- 
win's proofs  of  the  near  kin  of  man,  and  anthropoid 
apes.  Since  Darwin,  the  Pithecanthropus  has  been 
found  in  the  tertiary  deposits  of  Java,  which  is  prob- 
ably a  missing  link.  Other  fossil  forms  found  in  other 
places,  are  thought  by  those  most  qualified  to  testify, 
to  be  additional  proofs  in  paleontology,  of  the  evolu- 
tion of  man  from  a  lower  order. 

Experiments  have  been  made  in  the  mixing  of  the 
blood  of  man  with  mammals  of  different  groups.  The 
reactions,  it  is  claimed,  show  that  the  anthropoid  ape  is 
nearer  akin  to  man  than  any  other  animal. 

THE  UTILITY  OF  INVESTIGATION. — It  might  be  asked 
by  the  reader  who  has  not  made  a  study  of  biology  and 
physics,  "Why  is  it  desirable  to  have  a  great  variety  of 
species  in  the  organic  kingdom?"  and  "what  difference 
to  the  human  being  is  it,  how  the  species  arise  ? ' ' 

A  sufficient  answer  to  the  first  question  is,  that  if 
all  animals  were  of  one  species  they  would  devour  one 
kind  of  food  only,  and  that  food  would  soon  become 


104  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

exhausted.  The  difference  in  species  of  both  vegetable 
and  animal  kingdoms  is  accompanied  by  their  geo- 
graphical distribution  over  land,  and  in  water,  in  such 
a  way,  as  to  bring  together  the  adapted  organism,  and 
its  adapted  food,  for  its  preservation.  Insects  live 
upon  a  different  form  of  sustentation  from  that  re- 
quired by  vertebrates.  By  the  evolution  of  different 
forms,  having  each  its  own  digestive  apparatus, 
adapted  to  a  particular  form  of  food,  all  are  enabled 
to  survive.  This  law  of  variation  is  therefore  a  neces- 
sary law,  to  preserve  the  process  of  life,  which  is  also 
a  part  only,  in  the  general  scheme  of  the  universe.  All 
life  is  uniform  in  its  method  of  preservation  and  per- 
petuation. Every  organism,  both  vegetable  and  ani- 
mal, draws  from  its  environment  its  sustentation.  But 
the  organisms  and  their  sustentation,  are  in  as  many 
different  forms,  as  there  are  species,  in  the  one,  and 
combination  of  chemical  elements  in  the  other.  In 
general  terms  where  there  is  peculiar  form  of  food, 
there  will  be  found  a  species  of  organism  to  devour  it. 
Life  would  be  impossible  without  this  reciprocal 
adaptation. 

The  second  question  can  be  answered,  by  saying, 
that  knowledge  consists,  in  being  aware  of  the  truth 
of  phenomena.  The  real  advancement  of  man,  from 
the  lower  order  of  animals,  has  been  the  evolution  of 
the  power  to  know,  more  and  more,  of  his  environ- 
ment. One  of  the  most  important  things  is  his  own 
real  relation  to  other  forms  of  life.  This  includes  a 
knowledge  of  species,  and  how  they  arise.  The  breed- 
ing of  vegetables  and  animals,  for  food,  which  has  be- 
come the  principal  source  of  human  supply  in  civiliza- 
tion, is  immensely  assisted  by  a  knowledge  of  how 
nature  forms  new  species.  It  is  thus  a  utilitarian 
question  of  great  importance. 


MENTAL    AND     SOCIAL     EVOLUTION 

WHILE  the  principle  of  evolution  is  quite 
apparent  in  the  physical  life  of  organ- 
isms, and  of  man.  it  is  more  difficult  to 
perceive  it  in  the  psychical  life.  With 
man  there  is  a  higher  degree  of  mentality  than  in  any 
other  organism,  which  must  be  considered  as  a  function 
of  the  physical.  This  gives  him  a  much  wider  and  more 
complex  environment,  with  which  he  is  in  correspon- 
dence. But,  as  there  is  a  comparative  anatomy  and 
physiology,  so  there  is  a  comparative  mentality,  in  the 
organic  kingdom.  Especially  is  this  so  in  the  animal 
class.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  increase  of  mentality  in 
the  animal  class  is  parallel  with  the  development  of  a 
specialized  structure ;  and  while  it  seems  essential  to 
the  study  of  the  evolution  of  organisms,  to  divide  the 
psychical  from  the  physical,  yet  in  reality  they  are  one, 
genetically.  They  are  distinctive  only  in  their  mani- 
festations. 

DISTINCTIVE  FEATURES  OF  LIFE. — Living  tissue,  wher- 
ever found,  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest  organ- 
ism, has  a  certain  peculiar  movement,  which  character- 
izes it,  as  different  from  inorganic  matter.  This  move- 
ment is  its  correspondence  with  inorganic  matter. 
From  the  latter,  it  is  constantly  drawing,  and  appro- 
priating certain  elements.  When  this  process,  or 
movement  ceases  in  the  living  tissue,  It  becomes  at 
once,  only  inorganic  matter.  It  seems  therefore  to  be 
a  medium  only  for  transferring  inorganic  matter  into 
living  matter,  and  back  again  to  its  source.  An  organ- 

105 


106  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

ism  draws  its  sustentation,  not  only  from  the  earth,  but 
from  the  air  and  water.  These  sources  of  its  susten- 
tation are  called  its  environment.  Its  correspondence 
with  environment,  or  the  movements  made  in  keeping 
up  this  correspondence,  are  its  mind,  or  psychical  part, 
while  the  body  tissue,  which  makes  the  movements,  is 
its  physical  part.  A  study  of  the  vegetable,  and 
lowest  animal  organisms,  reveals  the  fact  that  the  tissue 
of  their  bodies  is  of  one  kind  only ;  that  is,  it  is  uniform 
in  structure.  Its  basis  is  protoplasm  in  the  form  of 
minute  cells.  The  body  is  formed  by  a  multiplication 
of  these  cells,  from  one  cell, -by  a  process  called  fission, 
or  division.  Although  the  different  parts  of  the  body 
take  different  forms,  yet  the  whole  is  composed  of  tis- 
sues, homogeneous  in  structure.  Such  a  uniform  or- 
ganism responds  to  its  environment  by  a  very  sluggish 
movement.  Its  mind,  therefore,  is  of  a  very  low  order. 
All  vegetation  is  thus  characterized.  Animals  are 
differentiated  from  vegetables  by  a  greater  response  to 
their  environment,  and  therefore  more  movement. 
Vegetables  are  fixed  by  their  roots  to  one  spot,  while 
animals  move  from  place  to  place.  This  fact  gives, 
to  the  animal,  the  larger  mind. 

NERVOUS  MATTER. — Those  animals  having  a  variation 
of  structure  called  nerve  matter,  a  white  mobile  tissue 
in  the  form  of  fibres;  imbedded  in  the  muscular  tissue, 
and  running  from  a  knot  of  the  same  tissue,  located  in 
the  anterior  end  of  the  body,  to  other  parts,  but  form- 
ing a  continuous  thread,  are  characterized  by  a  more 
noticeable  active  movement,  and  consequently  greater 
mind.  As  animals  rise  higher,  and  more  complex  in 
structure,  the  complexity  of  the  nervous  system  increases 
correspondingly.  It  is  known  by  anatomists,  physi- 
ologists, and  psychologists  that  the  behavior  of  an  animal 


MENTAL   AND    SOCIAL    EVOLUTION      107 

having  a  nervous  system  is  controlled  by  that  system. 
The  function  of  this  system  is  called  psychical,  to  dis- 
tinguish it  from  the  function  of  the  muscular  system, 
which  is  termed  physical.  But  there  is  no  real  difference 
in  kind.  It  is  one  of  degree  only.  The  nerve  matter  is 
composed  of  similar  cells,  which  make  up  the  other  tis- 
sues of  the  body.  It  will  be  seen,  at  9nce,  that  if  the 
control  of  behavior  in  the  animal,  is  in  the  function  of 
the  nervous  system,  therefore,  the  principle  of  evolution 
applied  to  this  structure  in  the  same  manner,  it  is  ap- 
plied in  the  preceding  chapter,  to  the  inorganic  and  or- 
ganic realms,  will  show  how  mind  is  subject  to  the  same 
laws  of  natural  selection.  It  is  not  necessary  to  con- 
sider in  detail,  in  the  following  pages,  the  mentality  of 
animals  lower  than  man,  except  by  allusion  here  and 
there.  Man  is  seen  to  be  only  a  family  in  the  order  of 
mammalia,  that  is,  he  is  classified  as  an  animal.  What 
is  peculiar  to  him  in  the  way  of  mentality  is  also  char- 
acteristic of  all  other  animals,  in  less  degree. 

THE  NERVOUS  SYSTEM. — Physiological  Psychologists 
find  that  the  mentality  of  the  human  organism 
is  produced  by  a  nervous  system,  containing  about 
3,000,000,000  nerves,  permeating  the  whole  body,  hav- 
ing its  external  terminations  so  arranged  as  to  carry 
with  much  more  rapidity  than  the  other  structure  of 
the  body  can  do,  certain  objective  sensations  from  the 
outside  of  the  body,  and  also  from  those  parts  of  the 
body,  objective  to  the  senses,  from  within  it,  that  is, 
from  all  its  objective  organs,  and  functions,  to  certain 
internal  terminations  of  this  nervous  system,  called 
ganglia,  or  neural  centers.  The  largest  ganglion  of 
this  system  is  the  encephalon,  or  central  organ,  or 
brain ;  and  is  made  up  of  innumerable  strands  of 
nerves,  so  interwoven,  as  to  appear  a  solid  mass  of 


nervous  matter.  By  reason  of  its  extreme  mobility 
this  great  mass  of  nerve  tissue,  permeating  every  point 
of  the  organism,  is  in  perpetual  motion.  This  isomeric 
molecular  motion  constitutes  the  consciousness  of  the 
individual,  keeping  it  in  perpetual  unity,  with  the 
same  energy,  or  force,  which  produces  molar  motion, 
in  the  environment — the  two  being  differentiated 
phases  of  the  persistence  of  force. 

Whenever  there  is  an  impression  made  on  any  of 
the  organs  of  the  senses, — of  touch,  sight,  hearing, 
smelling,  or  tasting, — it  is  conveyed  inwardly,  along 
the  receptive  nerves,  by  what  is  called  isomeric  molecu- 
lar motion;  that  is,  there  is  a  re-arrangement,  and 
more  or  less  destruction,  of  the  little  invisible  particles 
called  molecules,  which  make  up  the  substance  of  the 
nerve,  through  its  whole  length,  or  through  a  sufficient 
length,  to  convey  the  impression  to  one  of  the  ganglia. 
These  ganglia,  composed  of  yet  more  mobile  matter 
than  the  nerve  threads  of  conveyance,  add  to,  co- 
ordinate, and  discharge  the  motion  along  effector,  or 
motor  nerves,  and  thus  produce  the  phenomena  of 
bodily  motion,  and  all  the  phenomena  called  psychical. 
The  ganglia  acting,  apparently,  like  galvanic  batteries 
of  electrical  energy,  send  the  impression,  if  need  be, 
by  the  molecular  motion  of  motor  nerves,  to  exhaust 
themselves  in  muscular  action.  But,  if  the  sensations 
are  of  a  nature  to  require  brain  action  instead  of 
muscular  action,  then  the  sensory  energy,  coming  from 
the  environment,  is  conveyed  to  the  central  nervous 
organ,  called  the  brain,  and  there  by  molecular  and 
chemical  process,  it  is  co-ordinated  into  one  of  the 
phases  of  psychic  phenomena,  called  perception,  image, 
emotion,  conception,  reason,  memory,  or  will.  The 
individual  sensations  are  co-ordinated  with  each  other, 


MENTAL    AND    SOCIAL    EVOLUTION       109 

by  the  patterns  of  nerves  in  the  brain,  and  this  pro- 
duces generalizations  and  abstractions.  It,  also,  in  its 
normal  condition,  produces  effective  co-operation  in  all 
the  movements  of  the  muscles.  When  there  is  a  lack  of 
proper  co-ordination  for  any  cause,  such  as  lesion  of 
the  brain,  there  results  that  condition  we  call  abnormal 
mentality,  in  its  different  forms,  or  insanity.  This  co- 
ordination is  prevented,  also,  by  intoxication,  or  by  any 
pathological  effect  on  the  tissue.  The  whole  is  physi- 
ological in  process,  while  the  result  is  impressions, 
coming  from  the  environment,  by  way  of  the  senses, 
into  the  nervous  structure,  and  then  further  producing 
a  resulting  molecular  motion,  which  is  the  psychical 
phenomena.  It  is  all  the  result  of  natural  force,  the 
"persistence  of  force"  acting  along  the  line  of  least  re- 
sistence. 

The  structural  neural  centers  furnish  fixed  nodi,  in 
which  functions  operate  in  a  very  variable  and  unstable 
way.  The  processes,  while  of  course  determined  by 
what  are  termed  material  structures,  are  so  modified 
physiologically,  by  the  association  fibres  of  con- 
duction, crossing  and  mediating  the  sensory,  and  motor 
centers,  permeating  every  part  of  the  brain  structure, 
that  they  must  not  be  considered  localized  in  the  sense 
of  the  old  phrenology.  It  is  probable  that  the  higher 
in  the  brain  is  the  locality  of  neural  function,  the  more 
universal  are  the  contributions,  by  all  parts  of  the 
conduction  paths,  beginning  at  the  periphery  of  the 
body,  running  through  the  ganglia,  the  myel,  the 
oblongata,  mesencephalon,  diencephalon,  the  cerebrum, 
and  ending  in  the  various  association  centers  of  the 
prosencephalon.  Psychological  abstraction,  and  gener- 
alization evidently  occur  in  these  higher  parts,  and 
they  are  the  effects  of  the  most  complex  functions,  of 


110  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

parts  of  the  brain  structure,  centering  in  the  cerebrum, 
by  the  cross  association  fibres. 

REFLEX  ARCS. — The  unit  of  mechanism,  in  the  ner- 
vous system,  is  the  reflex.  The  simplest  reflex  arc  con- 
sists of  a  receptive  nerve  running  from  a  receptive  organ, 
the  eye,  for  instance,  to  the  appropriate  brain  center 
of  such  organ,  and  from  there  to  the  appropriate 
muscle.  In  animals  of  very  low  structure  the  nerve 
current  is  made  directly  over  a  single  reflex  arc  and 
the  reaction  follows  the  sensation  immediately.  But  in 
animals  of  complex  structure,  having  large  ganglia  called 
brains,  the  reflex  arcs  are  compounded  and  multiplied. 
In  man,  this  complexity  is  capable  of  controlling  the  ac- 
tion of  the  sensation,  so  that  there  is  deliberation,  hesita- 
tion, and  calculation,  before  any  muscle  movement  is 
made.  A  characteristic  of  the  system  is,  that  the  chain 
of  nerves  forming  the  reflexes  are  joined  together,  in 
such  a  way,  that  the  sensations  received  at  the  peri- 
pheral, can  be  conducted  only  toward  the  ganglion  to 
which  the  nerve  runs.  This  receptive  nerve,  however, 
receives  impulses  generated  in  various  places  in  the 
body,  and  from  other  nerves  near  it.  In  this  way,  a 
muscle  can  receive  impulses  from  many  reflex  arcs.  In 
this  way,  a  stimulation  received  through  any  one  sense 
organ  arouses  the  expectation  of  all  the  muscles  of  the 
body,  if  it  happen  to  be  of  such  nature  as  to  demand 
it.  It  is  thus  that  a  soldier  marching  toward  a  field 
of  battle,  and  hearing  the  boom  of  artillery,  ahead  of 
him.  has  all  his  senses  aroused  through  the  single  sense 
of  hearing.  The  muscles  of  his  whole  body  are  excited, 
by  the  expectancy  of  battle.  A  limb  muscle  is  the 
terminus  of  nervous  arcs  arising  in  everyone  of  the 
organs  of  sense,  the  eye.  the  ear,  the  nose,  the  skin, 
and  the  mouth.  In  the  works  of  Edinger  and  Exner 


MENTAL   AND    SOCIAL    EVOLUTION       111 

diagrams  are  given,  showing  the  patterns  of  nerves  in 
the  brain.  Max  Meyer  has  done  the  same  thing  in 
''Fundamental  Law  of  Human  Behavior."  Such 
diagrammatic  analyses  of  nerve  physiology  are  of  great 
value  to  students  of  mental  phenomena. 

IMAGES. — The  patterns  made  by  the  movements  of 
the  molecules  of  the  nervous  matter  on  the  brain,  in- 
augurated by  objective  stimulation,  such  as  light,  re- 
flected from  a  solid  body,  to  the  retina,  and  thence 
conveyed,  by  a  movement  of  the  molecules,  to  the  brain 
center  of  vision,  are  the  images  of  the  objective  body. 
These  patterns  are  constantly  changing,  and  forming 
new  images,  corresponding  to  the  innumerable  things 
seen  in  the  environment,  from  moment  to  moment. 
The  stimulations  frequently  come  from  within  the  body. 
What  is  called  ideation  is  thus  produced;  and  memory 
is  a  pattern  of  a  former  external  sensation,  reproduced 
by  molecular  motion,  initiated  in  the  conducting  fibres 
of  the  system,  by  an  objective  sensation,  on  its  way  to 
the  brain.  Our  consciousness  is  the  working  of  this 
psychic  machine  in  its  pattern  making  on  the  brain. 
A  system  of  conductivity  so  elaborate,  formed  of  matter 
so  mobile,  as  to  be  in  constant  flux,  the  atoms  of  which 
are  composed  of  that  cosmic  energy  which  is  moving 
the  innumerable  globes  of  the  universe,  and  which 
atoms  respond  so  eagerly,  and  accurately,  to  the 
slightest,  as  well  as  to  the  greatest  of  objective 
phenomena,  is  capable  of  producing  all  the  psychic 
effects  which  we  feel  in  our  bodies,  and  perceive,  by 
their  outward  marks,  in  the  bodies  of  others.  The 
nerve  cells  in  the  brain  are  said  to  be  fixed  in  number 
during  life.  But  they  seem  to  be  exceedingly  mobile 
and  sensitive  to  excitation.  They  throw  out  new 
threads  of  connection  by  repeated  stimulation  of  the 


112  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

organs,  and  thus  increase  the  associative  complex. 
The  greatest  benefit  of  school  education  is  the  effect 
that  its  repeated  exercises  have  upon  the  multiplication 
of  cross  cut  nerve  threads,  and  the  forming  of  com- 
plexes of  these.  In  reading,  music,  painting,  writing, 
the  advance  from  painful  effort  toward  automatism, 
means  the  gradual  formation,  in  the  brain,  of  short 
circuits  from  sense  organ,  to  motor  muscle.  The  per- 
fection of  all  human  effort,  and  behavior,  is  parallel 
with  the  like  perfection  of  the  flow  of  sensation  through 
the  plexuses  of  the  human  brain.  Frequent  repetition 
makes  the  effort  less  conscious,  because  it  clears  away 
in  the  brain  any  resistance  to  the  chemical  action,  or 
molecular  motion;  and  this  is  done,  if  Max  Meyer  is 
correct,  just  as  the  variations  of  sensory  paths  increase 
in  number  and  power.  He  says  the  progress  is  by  steps 
to  a  first  level  of  accomplishment,  and  thence  to  higher 
levels,  stopping  for  a  time  at  each  level. 

It  seems  that  these  halts  are  due  to  the  necessity 
for  the  growth  of  new  fibres  from  the  old  unused  cells, 
in  reaching  the  higher  arcs  in  the  brain. 

The  growth  of  new  variations  in  the  neural  paths 
depends  upon  (1)  the  intensity  of  the  sensations  and 
(2)  the  continuity  of  them.  Forgetting  is  the  negative 
susceptibility  of  the  nervous  paths.  By  non-use  they 
lose  their  power.  They  are  kept  up  only  by  continual 
use. 

In  discussing  the  effect  of  the  nervous  system  of 
moths,  Meyer  concludes  that  the  excitation  of  the 
eyes  of  the  moth,  by  which  the  wings  are  set  in  motion, 
toward  the  light,  is  of  great  benefit  to  the  moth  family, 
notwithstanding  that  millions  of  them  are  destroyed 
by  artificial  lights.  The  moth  evidently  obtains  his 
food  by  his  instinct  of  flying  toward  the  light,  and  the 
lights  of  nature  do  not  injure  him. 


MENTAL    AND    SOCIAL    EVOLUTION       113 

Reflexes  and  groups  of  reflexes,  called  instincts,  are 
hereditary.  He  calls  them  hereditary  activities.  They 
are  so,  because  the  characteristic  response  to  stimula- 
tion of  the  nerves  producing  these  activities,  is  pro- 
duced by  the  anatomy  of  the  nervous  system.  They 
are  in  no  sense  shaped  by  individual  training,  only 
improved. 

Sometime  before  birth  man  has  as  many  brain  cells 
as  he  will  ever  have.  But  at  that  time,  they  are  mere 
balls  ready  for  unwinding,  when  excitations  from  the 
sense  organs  are  sufficiently  intense.  These  unwind 
into  threads  of  conduction  during  life,  it  is  to  be 
presumed,  as  the  "mind"  becomes  more  and  more 
vigorous,  intelligent,  and  its  psychic  phenomena  more 
automatic.  They,  perhaps,  are  not  at  any  time  of  life 
all  unwound.  Thus  man  never  ceases,  during  life  to 
develop  mentally,  and  in  old  age,  intelligence  is  still 
enlarging,  because  unused  cells  ever  remain,  for  form- 
ing new  avenues  of  thought,  in  his  brain.  It  would 
seem,  that  a  life  time  is  too  short  for  the  develop- 
ment of  so  many,  just  as  it  would  take  more  than  a 
life  time  to  count  them.  The  somatic  cells  cease  to 
multiply  in  later  life.  So  if  a  piece  of  the  brain  is 
destroyed  it  does  not  grow  again,  but  is  filled  in,  with 
supporting  tissue.  But  as  long  as  we  live,  the  in- 
numerable nerve  cells  existing  in  the  brain  are  capable 
of  throwing  out  new  fibres  which  connect  with  other 
fibres,  and  thus  form  new  short  cut  channels  for  the 
passage  of  excitations  from  sensory  points  to  motor 
muscles.  The  short  cuts  from  one  ganglia  to  another 
enable  man  to  acquire  new  habits  that  in  time  become 
automatic.  They  quicken  thought,  and  multiply  the 
avenues  for  human  activity. 

"It  is  possible,  even  highly  probable,  that  a  special 


114  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

talent  means  merely  a  special  form  of  interconnection  of 
the  fundamental  reflexes,  common  to  all."     (Meyer.) 

This  looks  very  plausible.  It  is  in  support  of  the 
theory  that  thought  is  the  chemical  and  molecular  action 
of  the  nervous  system.  A  genius  who  shows  a  specialty 
in  any  direction,  is  simply  pushing,  by  the  exercise  of 
his  special  mentality,  the  formation  of  new  connections 
of  the  motor  nerve  ends,  which  will  greatly  facilitate  the 
movements  necessary  to  accomplish  extraordinary 
achievements.  If  he  should  be  an  artist,  then  the  sen- 
sory nerves  aroused  by  sight,  excite  intensely  the  motor 
nerves  of  the  hand,  in  movements  adapted  to  the  imita- 
tion on  the  canvas  of  things,  seen  by  the  eye.  The  in- 
tensity of  the  flux,  along  the  fibres  running  from  the 
eye  to  the  muscles  of  the  hand,  meet  with  resistance  by 
those  nervous  cells  yet  undeveloped,  and  these  throw  out 
short  circuit  fibres,  under  the  intense  repeated  pressure, 
which  connect  with  other  nearby  fibres,  and  thus  excite 
to  motor  action,  of  great  co-ordinating  power,  all  the 
muscles  necessary  to  draw,  and  paint  a  great  picture. 
If  the  genius  is  gifted  in  oratory,  the  principle  is  the 
same.  The  special  connections  of  speech  nerves,  at  their 
terminals,  both  in  the  excited  sensory  end,  and  the  motor 
end,  whether  the  sensory  end  lies  in  the  interior  of  the 
brain,  or  in  any  of  the  peripheral  sense  organs,  or  in 
any  part  of  the  body,  yet,  the  peculiar  material  inter- 
connections of  nerve  plexuses  produce  the  oratory,  which 
rises  in  grandeur  in  proportion  to  the  profundity  of  the 
interconnections,  which  produce  also  the  special  associa- 
tions between  ideas  just  arising  and  previous  ideas 
acquired  from  experience  or  learning.  All  the  mental 
activities  depend  upon  these  nervous  connections,  and 
are  extraordinary  in  proportion  to  the  completeness 
of  the  interconnections. 


MENTAL    AND    SOCIAL    EVOLUTION       115 

Man  is  right  handed  as  a  rule,  while  animals  are  both 
right  and  left,  for  legs,  indiscriminately.  The  two  hemis- 
pheres of  the  brain  function  differently.  The  center  of 
speech,  and  that  of  the  motor  muscles  of  the  right  arm, 
lie  in  the  left  hemisphere.  The  interconnections,  be- 
tween the  two  centers  are  close  and  profuse.  Therefore 
when  speech  must  be  emphasized,  by  pointing  to  a  place 
indicated  in  the  speech,  or  in  any  other  manner,  it  is 
natural  to  do  it  with  the  right  arm  or  hand,  which  is 
stimulated  by  excitation,  near  the  speech  centers.  Meyer 
had  said  previously,  that  all  babies  are  left  handed, 
during  the  first  three  months  of  life,  and  afterwards 
right  handed  for  the  reason  of  the  growing  exercise  of 
speech.  It  may  be  therefore  that  the  men  who  are  left 
handed  may  be  found  to  have  been  backward  in  speech 
when  babies,  and  that  the  habitual  left  handedness  as 
babies,  continued  with  these  left  handed  men,  until  it 
became  a  habit  through  life.  It  may  be  that  what  they 
did  say  in  early  life,  needed  no  emphasizing,  by  gesture 
of  the  hand. 

As  to  the  evolution  of  what  is  called  altruism,  Max 
Meyer,  while  he  does  not  consider  the  question  directly, 
yet  he  shows  that  all  generalizations  and  abstractions  are 
impossible  without  speech,  and  that  speech  depends  upon 
the  developed  nervous  system  of  man.  This  nervous  sys- 
tem has  been  evolved  with  the  rest  of  the  body.  All 
human  behavior  is  the  direct  effect  of  nervous  action,  and 
altruism  is  one  of  them — a  very  compound  and  intricate 
one.  Of  course  it  may  be  difficult  to  demonstrate  the 
survival  value  of  pure  altruism,  as  the  direct  result  of 
natural  selection.  But  it  must  be  treated  at  least  as  a 
secondary  effect,  growing  out  of  a  complex  of  nerve  tissue 
in  the  brain,  which  is  the  product  of  natural  selection, 
or  survival  of  the  fittest.  Altruism  would  be  impossible 


116  UNIVERSAL   EVOLUTION 

without  the  nerve  complexity  of  which  it  is  a  result.  In 
practicing  altruism  we  are  onbr  following  nature,  which 
does  everything  for  others,  and  thus  best  serves 
herself,  because  all  others  are  parts  of  herself. 
Man  is  a  part  of  nature,  and  when  he  nurtures 
others,  he  is  indirectly  doing  that  which  sustains 
himself.  When  he  helps  another,  he  is  teaching 
it,  how  to  do  the  same  to  him.  The  simplest  reflex  action, 
and  highest  mental  abstraction,  are  equally  dependent 
on  material  nerve  matter.  The  former  is  done  by  a 
simple  reflex  arc,  consisting  of  a  sensory,  and  a  motor 
fibre,  connected  by  what  is  called  a  ganglion.  The 
latter  is  the  passing  of  the  excitation,  either  sensory  or 
initiated  in  the  brain,  through  several  reflex  arcs, 
through  higher,  that  is,  more  complex  nerve  centers. 
When  an  instrument  shall  be  invented  which  will  enable 
man  to  measure  the  process  in  the  higher  nerve  centers. 
all  mentality  will  be  demonstrated  as  the  action  of 
nerve  plexuses.  The  endeavor  to  discourse  or  reason 
on  the  "states  of  consciousness,"  "sub-consciousness," 
"subjective  states"  or  "consciousness  being  a  self, 
conscious  of  itself,"  without  showing  objectively  the 
nervous  process  which  constitutes  these  conditions,  is 
without  any  convincing  effect. 

By  observing  the  gradations  of  complexity,  and 
definiteness  in  the  nervous  system  of  animals,  from  the 
lowest  to  the  highest,  it  is  plain  that  intellect,  and 
intelligence,  depend  upon  the  correspondence  that  these 
systems  give  the  body,  with  the  relation  of  things  in 
the  environment.  In  other  words,  the  psychology  of 
an  animal  is  the  degree  of  perfection  of  this  corre- 
spondence. The  lowest  animal  life  is  without  nerves. 
It  has  only  the  sense  of  touch,  and  that  very  feeble.  In 
this  regard,  it  is  very  different  from  a  human  being 


MENTAL    AND    SOCIAL    EVOLUTION       117 

deprived  of  all  senses  except  touch.  Such  a  human 
being  is  possessed  of  a  nervous  structure,  constituting 
the  nerve  centers  of  the  other  senses ;  and  by  the  asso- 
ciative conductive  paths  crossing  in  great  numbers, 
every  part  of  the  brain,  and  connecting  all  the  sense 
centers,  these  centers  of  the  other  senses  are  excited  to 
the  vicarious  performance  of  the  psychical  functions 
of  each  other.  So  that  the  sensations,  coming  through 
the  sense  of  touch  alone  to  such  a  brain  structure,  pro- 
duce more  slowly,  only,  nearly  as  much  mentality,  after 
repeated  practice  or  experience,  as  if  the  outward  sense 
organs  were  all  in  normal  working  order.  The  reaction 
of  its  muscles  to  the  sensation  of  touch  is  slow  in  the 
animal  without  nerves.  Such  animal  life  is  sustained 
by  the  absorption  of  whatever  suitable  matter  comes 
casually  in  contact  with  its  surface.  It  is  without  other 
intelligence  than  sustentation  and  procreation.  It  has 
no  correspondence  with  spacial  environment,  and  none 
with  the  time  sense.  The  difference  between  it  and  the 
most  intellectual  man,  is  the  difference  of  complexity 
in  physical  structure,  which,  of  course,  includes  nervous 
structure,  corresponding  with  a  like  complexity  in  the 
not-self,  or  environment. 

INSTINCTS. — The  connections  between  the  peripheral 
sense  organs  and  the  motor  muscles  in  lower  animals, 
are  the  instincts  of  those  animals.  The  same  connec- 
tions in  the  higher  order  of  animals  and  man  are  the 
instincts  of  that  order.  But,  as  the  complexity  in- 
creases, many  instincts  necessary  to  the,  low  orders  be- 
come unnecessary  to  the  higher.  Especially  is  this  true 
of  man.  But  the  instincts  of  self-preservation  and  race 
perpetuation  remain  all  through  the  series,  from  the 
lowest  to  the  highest.  These  are  love,  fear,  anger,  and 
the  sexual  feelings,  and  are  characteristic  of  all  animal 


118  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

life.  The  vegetable  which  has  the  power  of  drawing 
its  sustentation  directly  from  inorganic  substance,  has 
no  need  of  locomotion,  because  its  source  of  food  is  so 
universal  that  wherever  it  has  originated  there  is  susten- 
tation, from  which  it  is  supplied  with  little  effort  on  its 
part.  Of  course,  such  an  organism  never  rises  to  actual 
consciousness.  There  is  but  one  choice  on  its  part.  It 
takes  what  comes  to  it,  through  the  natural  elements 
of  the  earth,  the  soil,  water  and  air,  and  it  cannot  move 
in  search  of  more  somewhere  else.  In  this  way  the 
vegetable  kingdom  stores  up  in  its  fibres,  not  only  the 
simple  elements  necessary  to  its  own  growth  and  pres- 
ervation, but  in  the  only  form  in  which  the  animal 
kingdom  can  assimilate  them.  Therefore  the  vegetable 
preceded  the  animal  in  its  appearance  on  the  globe. 
The  animal  in  seeking  its  food,  had  to  have  the  power 
of  locomotion.  It  could  not  be  confined  to  one  spot ; 
although  in  the  ocean,  which  is,  itself,  in  constant 
motion,  some  crustaceans  remain  fastened  to  the  rocks. 
Their  food  is  brought  to  them  by  the  motion  of  the 
water.  The  vegetable  has  no  nervous  system,  yet  the 
sensitiveness  of  the  "Venus  fly  Trap"  would  indicate 
that  the  reflex  action  of  some  vegetables  is  scarcely 
distinguishable  from  that  of  many  animals.  But,  in  a 
technical  sense,  at  least,  we  can  say  that  vegetables  and 
the  very  lowest  animals  have  no  distinct  nervous  sys- 
tem. But  the  nerves,  as  differentiated  tissue,  begin  to 
appear  in  very  low  forms,  the  earth  worms,  for  ex- 
ample, having  a  distinct  nervous  system.  From 
these  to  man,  precisely  the  same  chemical  and 
protoplasmic  elements,  enter  into  the  composition 
of  not  only  the  somatic  cells,  but  those  of  the  nerves  as 
well.  Not  only  this,  but  the  same  general  plan,  or 
system,  outlines  the  body  nerves  of  all  animals,  from 


MENTAL   AND    SOCIAL    EVOLUTION       119 

the  lowest  to  the  highest.  This  system  is  adapted,  in 
each  animal,  to  the  support  of  such  reflex  action  in  the 
lowest,  as  may  be  necessary  to  maintain  its  existence 
and  perpetuate  its  species ;  and  in  the  highest,  in  addi- 
tion, to  give  it  choice  in  the  maintenance  of  all  its  com- 
plex environment.  This  increase  of  choices  constitutes 
consciousness.  In  every  animal  there  is  a  central  organ 
to  the  neural  system  to  which  every  fibre  runs,  either 
directly  or  indirectly.  The  complexity  of  this  central 
organ  is  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  fibres,  and  small 
centers  in  the  body,  and  its  function  is  the  determina- 
tion of  the  responses  necessary  to  be  made  to  the  most 
important  sensations  received.  But  always  there  is.  in 
the  simplest  organism,  at  least,  a  reflex  arc  consisting  of 
a  fibre  running  from  every  point  of  the  body  contiguous 
with  objectivity,  or  environment,  to  a  center  and  from 
that  center  to  the  muscle  tissue,  best  adapted  to  make 
the  movement, — to  avoid  an  object,  or  respond  to  the 
sensation.  For  example,  hunger  is  the  sensation  of  an 
absence  of  the  substance  necessary  to  maintenance  of 
life.  This  sensation  is  carried  by  the  reflex  arc  to  the 
central  organ,  and  that  sends  it  to  the  motor  muscles, 
putting  them  in  proper  motion  to  procure  the 
food  that  will  allay  the  sensation.  Most  ani- 
mals, being  supplied  with  organic  tools  only, 
that  is,  not  being  able  to  manufacture  arti- 
ficial tools,  as  man  is,  have  no  choice  except  to 
use  the  tools  nature  has  provided.  These  have  a  system 
of  nerves  simple  and  adapted  to  the  instructive  control 
of  these  natural  tools.  Their  tools,  such  as  wings,  legs, 
teeth,  claws,  beaks,  etc.,  remaining  unchangeable  in 
their  shape  and  power  during  their  lives,  compel  them 
to  do  whatever  -work  they  perform  in  only  one  and  the 
same  way  during  life.  Therefore  they  have  a  nervous 


120  UNIVERSAL   EVOLUTION 

system,  in  control  of  their  mechanism,  in  like  simplicity. 
The  complexity  of  the  nervous  system  corresponds  with 
that  of  the  mechanism  of  the  organism.  This  corre- 
spondence produces  a  uniform  result,  and  that  result 
is  always  produced  in  only  one  manner.  This  is  called 
instinct.  Now,  as  soon  as  there  came  into  being  an 
animal  with  the  manifest  power  of  another  choice  as 
to  the  mode  of  responding  to  his  environment,  possessed 
of  the  additional  tool,  or  the  ability  to  make  a  tool  to 
aid  his  natural  tools,  or  who  could  make  a  fire,  and  thus 
work  in  a  way  before  unknown,  that  variety  of  animal, 
we  now  call  man,  and  his  ability  to  choose  his  mode 
of  acting  on  matter  or  environment,  is  called  intelli- 
gence. Investigation  discovered  that  this  man  and  this 
intelligence  possessed  a  more  complicated  nervous 
system  than  the  animals  whose  work  is  instinct;  but 
that  the  complexity  of  his  nervous  system  is  made  up 
of  the  expansion  by  growth  of  the  same  nervous  matter 
of  the  instinctive  animals,  and  not  matter  of  a  different 
kind. 

It  is  a  well  known  fact,  that  in  the  decline  of  vitality 
accompanying  old  age  of  man,  the  functions  last  devel- 
oped in  life,  are  the  earliest  lost.  The  term  "second 
childhood"  is  the  popular  recognition  of  a  profound 
psychological  truth.  The  highest  intellectual  functions 
soonest  fade,  while  the  instincts  and  emotions,  which 
existed  almost  at  birth,  remain  to  the  latest  breath. 
Those  phenomena,  which  accompany  normal  senile  decay 
in  man,  are  strikingly  similar  to  those  which  the  vivi- 
sectionist  is  able  to  produce  with  his  knife. 

Remove  the  cerebral  hemisphere  of  a  pigeon,  and  it 
returns  to  a  condition  closely  resembling  that  of  the 
newly  hatched  bird, — it  will  swallow  food  placed  in  its 
mouth,  and  if  you  turn  it  on  its  back  it  will  regain  its 


MENTAL    AND    SOCIAL    EVOLUTION       121 

normal  position.  But  it  cannot  pick  up  food  for  itself, 
it  cannot  avoid  danger, — indeed  it  does  not  recognize 
danger, — it  cannot  fly.  These  powers  depend  on  the 
co-ordinate  action  of  its  higher  brain  cells,  and  the 
removal  of  these  cells  reduces  its  activities  to  the  condi- 
tion of  a  lower  order,  from  which  it  sprang.  No  one 
has  been  able  to  carry  on  similar  experiments  with  the 
higher  mammals,  because  of  the  resulting  shock,  and 
the  uncontrolable  hemorrhage ;  and  of  course  experiments 
on  human  beings  are  out  of  the  question.  But,  there 
is  good  reason  to  believe,  that  if  these  normal  and  tech- 
nical difficulties  could  be  eliminated,  the  trained  physiolo- 
gist could  carry  a  man  back,  by  the  successive  steps  of 
his  evolution,  from  lower  orders,  first,  in  the  scale  of 
civilization,  and  then  in  that  of  organic  life,  by  simply 
destroying,  in  succession,  the  physical  centers  of  the 
brain,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest.  There  are  many 
eases,  in  medical  literature,  of  insanity  resulting  from 
injury  to  the  brain,  and  disappearing  when  the  injury 
was  cured.  In  some  of  these  cases  the  injured  person, 
while  retaining  nearly  complete  control  of  his  mental 
faculties,  lost  all  sense  of  moral  accountability,  and  com- 
mitted grave  offenses.  Certain  diseases,  especially  par- 
etic  dementia,  produce  the  same  effect,  and  these  diseases 
have  for  their  constant  lesions,  the  destruction  of  the 
brain  tissue. 

The  phenomena  of  anaesthesia  furnish  similar  evi- 
dence. Physically  the  person  going  under  chloroform,  or 
ether,  loses  first  conscious  sensibility,  then  unconscious 
sensibility  in  the  voluntary  muscles,  then  the  peristaltic 
action  of  the  involuntary  muscles  of  the  coats  of  the 
intestines  stops,  and  finally,  if  the  anaesthetic  is  pushed, 
the  heart  ceases  to  beat.  Mentally,  the  same  order  is 
followed, — the  reverse  order  of  development.  The  pa- 


122  -UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

tient  loses  first  his  judgment  and  self-control,  his  ethical, 
instinctive,  and  carefully  taught  manners  disappear,  and 
he  laughs,  cries,  or  swears,  in  utter  abandon,  long  before 
he  has  ceased  to  be  able  to  repeat,  parrot-wise,  the 
monotonous  counting  of  the  anaesthetist.  The  qualities 
latest  acquired,  which  can  best  be  spared,  go  first.  Judged 
•by  this  grimly  practical  test,  our  mentality  depends  upon 
the  physical  development,  at  the  time,  and  must  have 
been  an  evolution  from  lower  forms  of  mentality. 

MENTAL  EVOLUTION,  MATERIALISTIC. — The  principle 
of  organic  evolution,  being  once  established,  necessarily 
carries  with  it  mental  evolution.  This  is  especially  so, 
upon  the  theory  of  the  materialist,  that  "mind"  is  the 
function  of  specialized  matter.  But,  even  if  that  of  the 
parallelist,  is  taken  as  true,  there  is  such  an  intimate 
connection  between  the  molecular  pulsation,  and  the 
physical  effect,  that  the  evolution  of  both  simultane- 
ously, would  seem  to  be  the  only  conclusion.  Such  great 
advancement  has  been  made,  in  late  years,  in  the 
science  of  brain  physiology,  and  in  physiological  psy- 
chology, that -the  study  of  "mind"  must  now  be  made 
through  physiology.  The  result  is,  that  the  new  defini- 
tions of  psychic  elements,  and  mental  phenomena  are 
material.  For  example,  Max  Meyer's  definition  of  in- 
stinct, is  that  it  is  the  connection  of  a  receptive  nerve,  by 
a  reflex  arc,  through  the  brain,  to  a  motor  muscle.  Berg- 
son  calls  it,  an  animal  mode  of  doing  a  thing,  because  it 
has  but  one  choice.  A  brook  trout  darts  away  upon  sight 
of  a  moving  object,  on  the  shore  of  the  stream,  because 
its  sense  of  sight  is  exceedingly  keen,  by  having  its  eye 
connected,  by  a  large  nerve  to  the  very  large  brain  center 
of  vision,  and  by  other  nerves  running  from  these  to  the 
motor  muscles  of  tail  and  fins.  The  lobe  of  a  trout 's 
brain,  containing  the  center  of  vision,  is  very  large  in 


MENTAL    AND    SOCIAL    EVOLUTION       123 

proportion  to  its  entire  brain.  This  knowledge  is  impor- 
tant to  the  fisherman,  casting  the  fly  in  the  trout  stream. 
For,  if  the  trout  gets  a  sight  of  him,  before  it  is  hooked, 
it  escapes ;  and  after  a  good  sized  trout  is  hooked,  upon 
delicate  tackle,  a  good  fisherman  will  not  move  a  muscle, 
except  that  necessary  to  operate  the  reel.  The  motion  of 
a  finger  will  sometimes  cause  the  trout  to  make  remark- 
able struggles  to  relieve  himself  of  the  hook.  No  one 
attributes  these  traits  of  the  trout  to  any  other  cause, 
than  that  of  his  nervous  system.  Then,  why  should  the 
behavior  of  man  be  attributed  to  any  other  cause  than 
the  control  his  brain  is  shown  to  have  over  his  motor 
muscles  ? 

Mental  traits  are  inherited,  because  they  depend, 
upon  the  peculiar  structure  of  the  brain,  and  structure 
is  inherited.  Aptitude  and  genius  often  run  in  fam- 
ilies ;  so  does  insanity.  Every  breeder  of  animals  knows 
how  temperaments,  and  tendencies,  peculiarities  of 
behavior,  are  handed  down  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion. This  is  so,  because  the  peculiar  structure  of  the 
brain  is  inheritable,  and  the  brain  controls  .the  behavior 
of  both  man  and  animals.  Natural  selection  as  said 
before,  does  not  confine  its  operation  to  physical  traits, 
anymore  than  it  does  to  mental  traits  in  animals.  Man, 
the  weakest  of  animals,  is  the  best  adapted,  and  there- 
fore dominates,  and  survives  all  others,  as  a  class,  be- 
cause of  his  mental  power,  to  contrive,  construct,  to 
manufacture,  and  to  farm  the  soil.  He  annihilates 
other  animals,  selecting  those  best  suited  to  his  needs 
for  domestication.  Other  animals  are  selected,  by  this 
law  of  survival,  on  account  of  their  superior  mental 
traits,  by  which  they  overcome  their  enemies  by  cunning 
and  subterfuge.  Beside,  the  "minds"  of  animals  have 
been  evolved  by  domesticating  them.  The  dog,  the 


124  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

horse,  and  the  cow  are  all  descended  from  wild  species, 
whose  temperaments  and  intelligence  were  very  low. 
By  artificial  breeding  and  selection,  they  have  evolved 
into  most  useful,  and  intellectual  servants  of  man.  The 
most  intelligent  is  selected  to  survive.  The  evolution 
of  man  himself  from  a  lower,  vicious,  and  savage 
ancestry,  is  parallel  with  that  of  the  dog.  The  evolu- 
tion of  his  brain  has  been  accompanied  by  that  of  his 
intelligence, — his  mind.  If,  when  he  was  a  lower  ani- 
mal, his  brain  was  operated,  by  an  entity  distinct  from 
its  function,  that  separate  power  must  have  evolved 
also,  parallel  with  the  evolution  of  his  brain.  Other- 
wise, how  can  his  advancement  in  psychical  power  be 
accounted  for.  But  that  dilemma  is  avoided,  by  the 
theory,  that  his  mental  powers  are  the  functions  of  his 
brain,  and,  evolution  being  conceded  in  structure,  it 
naturally  follows  in  function. 

The  evolution  of  the  Collie  from  a  wolf,  or  a  canine, 
equally  savage  and  vicious,  is  a  remarkable  trans- 
formation. Its  intelligence,  faithfulness,  and  sympathy 
when  trained  as  a  sheep  dog,  in  herding  and  caring 
for  a  flock,  are  equal  to  these  same  traits  in  man.  In 
the  early  days  in  Colorado  and  New  Mexico  sheep  were 
herded  on  the  public  lands.  The  herders  were  generally 
Mexicans  accompanied  by  dogs.  A  flock  of  two  thou- 
sand was  stolen  in  Northern  New  Mexico.  The  thieves, 
the  herders  themselves,  drove  it  into  Colorado,  and 
finally  to  the  north  side  of  the  Arkansas  River,  near 
Las  Animas,  Colorado.  Here  they  abandoned  the  flock 
fearing  capture,  for  the  owners  were  on  their  track. 
But  the  dog  remained  with  the  flock.  One  morning  a 
ranchman  on  the  river  heard  a  scratching  on  the  door 
of  his  kitchen.  On  opening  the  door,  he  saw  this  sheep 
dog,  evidently  half  starved.  The  dog  had  put  the 


MENTAL    AND    SOCIAL    EVOLUTION       125 

herd  in  the  corral,  and  then  came  to  the  door,  for 
something  to  eat.  After  being  fed,  he  took  the  sheep 
out  of  the  corral,  and  onto  the  range  for  feeding, 
bringing  them  in  each  evening,  watering  them  in  the 
river,  and  repeating  this  service  each  day,  until  the 
sheep  were  found  by  the  owners.  Innumerable  in- 
stances might  be  given  of  equal  intelligence  in  dogs. 

SLEEP. — Even  sleep,  which  is  the  period  of  rest,  to 
the  functions  of  the  nervous  system,  is  caused  by  the 
contraction  of  the  blood  vessels  of  the  brain,  and  the 
enlargement  of  the  peripheral  termination  of  the 
circulatory  system,  thus  lessening  the  activity  of  the 
molecular  motion  which  sustains  psychic  phenomena. 
The  resulting  inactivity  of  the  senses,  is  sleep.  It  is 
often  asserted  that  the  mind,  as  some  call  the  func- 
tions of  the  nerve  tissue,  never  sleeps.  One  proof  of 
this  is  the  supposed  mystery  of  dreams.  The  memory 
images  can  only  be  true  to  the  absent  object,  whose 
representation  constitutes  the  content  of  memory,  when 
the  organs  are  fully  awake  and  working  normally.  In 
sleep,  the  vascular  system  is  greatly  modified.  The 
molecular  motion  of  the  brain  depends  on  the  constant 
renewal  of  the  physiological  units,  as  they  become 
exhausted  in  the  psychical  process.  But  sleep  is  the 
anemia  of  the  brain.  Hence  dreams  are  always 
abnormal  presentations  in  the  brain.  Very  few  of 
them  have  any  sane  cohesion,  and  can  seldom  be  en- 
tirely recalled.  They  are  like  half  taken  photographs, 
when  the  plates  are  not  properly  prepared.  The  brain 
centers  lack  in  sleep  the  physical  elements  necessary 
to  a  normal  image. 

The  objective  thing,  or  rather  nature  as  a  whole, 
especially  the  inorganic,  is  that  to  which  the  organism 
has  adjusted  itself  during  its  whole  evolution.  Psychic- 


126  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

ally  it  continues  this  adjustment,  in  meeting  new  situa- 
tions; but  the  limitation  of  this  correspondence  is  de- 
termined by  the  limitation  of  the  structure.  Within 
its  limitations  the  psychic  device,  in  various  ways, 
modifies  the  image  by  its  pliability  in  adaptation,  such 
as  changing  the  point  of  view,  and  also  by  all  grades 
of  attention,  and  inattention.  The  pathological  con- 
dition of  the  psychic  device  greatly  modifies  all  sensa- 
tions and  images.  Dreams  are  modified  forms  of 
memory. 

DREAMS. — Dreams  do  not  come  in  profound  sleep, 
— that  is,  when  the  molecules  of  the  nerve  tissues, 
which  produce  the  psychical  phenomena  are  at  rest. 
It  is  probable,  that  those  nerves  that  sustain  the  physio- 
logical function,  of  replacing  the  destroyed  molecules 
of  nerve  structure,  may  be  as  active  in  profound  sleep, 
as  during  the  waking  hours.  But  not  those  which 
produce  the  images,  and  patterns  of  ideas,  or  which 
recall  by  the  associative  fibres  former  impressions,  as 
is  the  case  in  dreaming.  Dreams  seem  to  be  produced 
during  the  decreasing  activity  of  the  molecular  motion 
of  the  psychical  patterns  of  the  brain,  in  process  of 
going  to  sleep,  or,  by  the  nascent  motion  of  the  same 
molecules,  in  the  process  of  waking.  At  these  two 
opposite  periods,  the  sensations  coming  from  the 
environment  are  not  operative,  but  the  faint  and  im- 
perfect representations  of  former  sensations  are  pro- 
duced, by  the  feeble  movements  of  the  molecules,  not 
vigorous,  and  true,  as  when  first  presented,  in  the 
waking  hours,  but  modified,  and  never  an  exact  copy 
of  the  original.  Thus  dreams  seem  to  be  of  different 
degrees  of  truthfulness.  As  the  brain  approaches  sleep, 
the  first  dreams  are  likely  to  be  the  most  vivid,  and 
representative ;  but  as  sense  activity  gradually  declines, 


MENTAL    AND    SOCIAL    EVOLUTION       127 

they  become  fainter  and  more  fantastic,  and  at  last 
incoherent.  This  order  is  reversed,  in  the  period  of 
waking,  the  last  dreams,  that  precede  the  final  open- 
ing of  the  avenues  of  real  sensations,  coming  from  real 
objects  in  the  realm  outside  of  the  brain,  being  more 
definite,  and  true  to  the  reality,  than  those  preceding. 
In  this  sense,  dreams  are  in  line  with  other  psychical 
phenomena,  having  physiological  marks.  Profound 
sleep  may  be  prevented,  by  various  abnormalities  act- 
ing on  the  senses,  such  as  indigestible  food  in  the 
stomach,  aromas  coming  in  excess  to  the  nostrils,  or 
unusual  pressure  on  any  part  of  the  body.  In  such 
cases,  there  is  not  profound  sleep,  and  the  molecular 
nervous  motions  are  more  or  less  active,  producing 
corresponding  representations  of  modified  forms  of 
previous  sensations  and  ideas,  or  dreams. 

REASON  Is  LIMITED. — The  higher  the  mentality,  with 
reference,  of  course,  to  the  maintenance  of  a  higher 
adaptation  of  the  organism  to  the  material  environ- 
ment, the  more  readily  will  natural  selection  operate 
in  its  perpetuation.  Such  a  mentality  is  based  upon 
its  emanation  from  and  genetic  connection  with  a  ma- 
terial environment.  But,  if  that  higher  mentality  is 
what  is  termed  merely  a  sentimental  one,  impractical, 
artificial,  and  in  correspondence  only  with  a  fantastic 
and  immaterial  environment,  it  would  be  unfit  for  the 
preservation  of  physical  life,  and  therefore  of  its  own 
life.  This  condition  arises  from  a  diseased  condition  of 
the  nerve  tissue.  Man  is  so  heterogeneous,  especially 
in  his  mental  functions  and  social  relations,  that  the 
action  of  the  principle  is  much  less  easy  to  trace.  Yet, 
the  more  the  principle  is  studied,  the  stronger  becomes 
the  evidence,  that  natural  selection  is  operating  just 
as  powerfully  in  man,  and  in  all  aggregations  of  men; 


128  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

in  society,  in  governments,  in  churches,  in  barbarism, 
or  in  civilization,  as  in  any  animal  organism.  The 
principle  seems  to  be  the  essential  method  in  all  phases 
of  organic  life.  It  is  true,  that  man  seems  to  have  a 
larger  degree  of  control  of  his  functions  than  do  the 
lower  animals.  Consciousness  and  reflection,  in  the 
form  of  so-called  memory,  reason  and  will,  seem  to 
partially  supersede  natural  selection.  But  this  is  only 
apparent,  and  certainly  not  efficient,  to  prevent  the 
natural  survival  of  the  fittest  in  all  organisms  and 
methods ;  not  such  as  man  himself  would  select  as  the 
fittest,  but  what  the  persistence  of  force  may  determine 
by  actual  test  to  be  so. 

It  is  frequently  asserted  that  psychological,  sociolog- 
ical and  ethical  evolution  has  been  superseded  and 
arrested  by  the  evolution  of  reason. 

Reason  as  defined  by  such  writers  means  the  power 
of  the  organism  to  control  its  own  development,  and 
its  own  functions.  It  means  further,  according  to  these, 
the  ability  to  organize  mankind  socially  and  morally, 
and  in  that  way  to  arrest  the  principle  of  natural  selec- 
tion and  introduce  design  where  none  existed  before. 
This  seems  to  be  viewing  reason  as  a  creative  entity, 
dissociated  from  the  structure  and  function  of  the 
brain.  But  the  fact  is,  reason  is  nothing  more  than  one 
phase  of  the  psychical  aspect  of  the  physiology  of  the 
brain,  and  can  only  be  a  result  of  physical  molecular 
motion,  in  certain  centers  of  the  brain  tissue,  and  that 
is  the  product  of  biological  evolution.  There  is  a  social 
evolution  which,  of  course,  is  accomplished  through  the 
psychical  power  of  man.  But  as  man's  psychical  power 
comes  only  through  a  natural  adaptation  or  adjustment 
to  environment,  the  resulting  social  evolution  while 
seemingly  under  the  control  of  man's  "free-will"  is 


MENTAL    AND    SOCIAL    EVOLUTION       129 

determined  by  the  laws  of  physics, — which  hold  man's 
"will"'  within  the  bounds  of  economical  adjustment. 
All  reason  is  determined  the  same  way.  That  is,  man 
is  compelled  to  reason  within  natural  law. 

Alfred  Binet  says  "Reason  is  a  synthesis  of  images." 
It  is  a  coalescense  of  images.  It  is  sense  impression, 
arrested  in  its  ordinary  neural  path,  and  sent  over  a  new 
one,  where  it  meets  with  some  resistance,  because  the 
new  path  has  not  been  worn  smooth  by  long  use.  It  is 
like  a  ship  bound  for  the  East  Indies  from  London.  Its 
natural  route  would  be,  via  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  By 
this  route  it  would  sail  easily,  and  almost  automatically, 
to  its  destination.  But  the  Suez  canal  has  canalized  a 
new  short  cut,  via  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar,  Mediterranean 
sea,  and  the  Red  sea.  But  the  latter  is  not  only  a  change 
of  direction,  but  that  part  of  it  through  the  canal  is 
slow,  and  requires  new  methods.  It  is  not  so  automatic, 
but  in  the  aggregate  is  quicker.  It  is  not  reflex  action, 
but  a  deliberate,  studied  movement,  requiring  intelli- 
gence, more  than  instinct. 

The  conscious  psychical  effect,  of  this  arrested  reflex, 
is  called  memory,  reason,  or  imagination,  according  to 
the  particular  center  of  the  cerebrum  excited;  and  the 
final  manifestation  of  the  energy  thus  aroused,  in  nervous 
activity  resulting  in  muscular  movement,  is  called  will. 
The  anatomical  fact  that,  in  some  way  unknown,  a  varia- 
tion occasionally  occurs  in  the  way  of  added  convolution 
of  nerve  matter,  or  facility  of  molecular  motion,  in  the 
cortex  of  the  brain,  gives  the  organism,  so  favored,  new 
power  in  co-ordinating  sense  impression.  Or,  if  Meyer 
is  correct,  these  variations  are  new  nerve  threads  form- 
ing new  short  cut  connections  in  the  brain.  The  human 
brain  has  evolved  by  reason  of  these  biological  varia- 
tions, and  not  by  its  own  ' '  will. ' ' 


130  UNIVERSAL   EVOLUTION 

Biiiet  further  says,  "We  reason  because  we  have  in 
our  brain  a  machine  for  reasoning.  *  *  *  In  reason- 
ing the  primary  roll  belongs  to  the  images."  (That  is, 
the  images  that  objectivity  makes  on  the  brain.)  "It  is 
they,  which  spontaneously  form,  to  our  external  sight, 
the  picture  of  the  external  world.  *  *  *  Just  as 
crystalization,  in  its  oddest  eccentricities,  always  ob- 
serves a  certain  angular  value,  so  reasoning  true,  false, 
or  insane,  always  obeys  the  laws  of  resemblance  and 
continuity.  *  *  *  It  would  be  an  error  to  believe 
that  this  process  belongs  specially  to  reasoning.  We 
meet  it  in  all  intellectual  operations.  *  *  *  The 
highest  science  is  epitomized  in  these  simple  words — 
"to  see." 

DIFFERENCE  IN  BRAINS. — The  real  difference  between 
two  brains,  whose  anatomy  is  apparently  alike,  is 
very  obscure.  Why  the  cognitive  centers  will  develop 
so  much  more  rapidly,  and  become  so  much  more  power- 
ful, in  one,  than  in  another,  with  an  equal  environment, 
and  practice,  is  a  difficult  problem.  The  difference  in 
function  does  not  seem  to  depend  entirely  upon  the 
weight  and  size  of  the  organs.  The  real  difference  be- 
tween two  brains  is  rather  that  of  quality,  or  at  least, 
the  quality  of  the  nerve  matter,  or  the  perfection  of  the 
cross  association  system,  in  its  adaptation  to  the  all  im- 
portant function  of  co-ordination,  and  inhibition.  The 
greater  activity  of  the  one  brain,  in  producing  that  psy- 
chic effect  popularly  called  "will,"  impresses  the  ob- 
server as  being  the  result  of  the  will  reacting  as  a  gov- 
erning power,  over  the  molecular  motions,  and  thus 
molding  them  by  "will  power."  All  the  psychic  phe- 
nomena, beginning  with  the  simple  emotions,  which  per- 
haps at  a  very  early  period  of  the  evolution  of  mind, 
were  as  difficult  to  express,  as  is  now  the  highest  thought, 


MENTAL    AND    SOCIAL    EVOLUTION       131 

or  reasoning  in  man,  have  been  evolved,  by  reason  of 
those  variations,  or  differentiations.  It  is  also  likely, 
that  when  man's  present  memory,  reason,  and  will,  shall 
have  been  in  use  a  sufficient  time,  they  will  become  as 
automatic,  as  are  now  the  emotions  and  instincts.  Then 
the  new  born  infant  will  have  them  as  he  now  has  fear, 
love,  and  hatred.  Then  higher,  more  abstruse,  more 
complex,  psychic  phenomena  will  gradually  appear  in  the 
mature  human  organism.  This  should  come  only  with 
the  growth  of  brain,  in,  or  above  the  cerebrum,  with  new 
reflex  arcs  connecting  it  with  all  the  other  parts  of  the 
nervous  system.  But  Meyer  has  placed  this  whole  ques- 
tion upon  a  new  basis.  If,  as  he  contends,  the  innumer- 
able cells,  are  like  little  balls  at  first,  which  unwind,  as 
mental  experience,  and  practice  works  upon  them,  then 
the  strenuous  excitation,  which  the  will-to-think-and-do, 
exerts  upon  these  little  potential  reflex  connections,  un- 
winding them,  and  throwing  out  new  short  cuts,  to  brain 
centers,  reached  before,  by  only  long  reflex  arcs,  then, 
that  will  account  for  the  superiority  of  some  brains  over 
others.  Yet  there  are  brains  originally  superior  to 
others. 


CHAPTER  V 

MENTAL   AND    SOCIAL   EVOLUTION 
Continued 

THE  ADVANTAGE  OF  CIVILIZED  ENVIRONMENT. 
As  said  by  Romanes,  civilized  man  enjoys 
advantages  over  savage  man,  far  in  advance 
even  of  those  which  arise  from  a  settled  state 
of  society.  Whether  we  agree  with  Lamarck  concern- 
ing the  heredity  of  acquired  characters  or  not,  there  is 
a  very  noticeable  difference  between  the  hereditary 
traits  of  a  civilized  man,  and  those  of  an  uncivilized 
one.  In  one  sense  they  both  inherit  their  environments. 
There  is  a  transmittal  of  intellect,  when  once  acquired; 
and  it  is  not  inherited,  until  it  is  acquired  by  some  or- 
ganism. It  may  have  required  many  generations  of 
variations,  which  an  environment  of  refining  education 
would  give,  before  the  barbarous  habits,  and  instincts, 
were  finally  extinct  in  offspring;  but  such  change  cer- 
tainly must  have  been  made,  at  some  time  in  the  evolu- 
tion of  a  race,  from  a  low  condition,  to  a  higher  one. 
The  evolution  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  from  the  con- 
dition it  was  in,  when  it  first  settled  in  England,  to  its 
present  condition,  is  a  very  remarkable  instance  of  such 
evolution. 

Refined  parents,  of  the  present  Anglo-Saxon  race, 
hand  down  to  their  children  such  traits,  of  structure 
and  function,  as  would  distinguish  them,  were  they 
brought  up  in  a  savage  tribe.  While  it  required  a 
thousand,  or  more,  years  of  advancement  to  make  the 
Anglo-Saxon  what  he  is,  yet  it  would  perhaps  require 
the  same  length  of  time  to  degrade  him  to  his  former 
condition.  All  society  has  been  evolved  by  the  com- 

132 


MENTAL   AND    SOCIAL    EVOLUTION       133 

bination  of  innate  tendencies,  external  influences,  and 
effort,  both  physical  and  mental,  by  the  individuals 
composing  it.  And  until  the  society  had  made  great 
advances,  by  the  arising  of  variations  in  its  form  and 
function,  and  the  operation  of  natural  selection,  in  the 
survival  of  the  fittest,  the  productions  of  genius  in 
literature,  art,  and  mechanics  were  impossible.  A 
Bacon,  a  Newton,  a  Darwin  would  be  impossible  in 
savagery,  or  barbarism. 

"There  is  a  transmutation  of  habits,  quite  as  much 
as  of  structure,  and  the  former  is  probably  initiative  of 
the  latter."  (Montgomery.)  That  statement  is  de- 
cidedly Lamarkian.  It  means  that  acquired  characters 
are  inheritable.  It  is,  also,  in  line  with  Meyer's  state- 
ment heretofore  referred  to,  that  man's  will-to-do,  or 
mental  effort,  will  form  new  nerve  fibres,  thrown  out 
by  the  ganglia,  and  that  the  connection  of  these  with 
other  fibres,  and  brain  centers,  produce  new  mental 
power.  At  least,  the  new  power  given  by  these  new 
nerves,  whether  in  the  form  of  reason,  imagination,  or 
will,  by  reason  of  their  new  channels,  is  flowing  along 
the  line  of  least  resistance.  Its  effort  then  becomes  so 
automatic,  that  it  gives  one  a  feeling  that  it  is  the 
effort,  that  is,  the  reason,  that  has  produced  its  own 
cause. 

LINE  OF  LEAST  RESISTANCE. — The  question  of  line  of 
least  resistance,  as  well  as  the  attraction  of  gravita- 
tion, is,  at  large,  the  question  of  the  general  diffusion 
of  matter;  while  the  method,  or  process  of  such  dif- 
fusion, is  that  of  the  nature  of  motion.  Matter 
perhaps  was  never  wholly  quiescent.  In  that  condition 
of  it  in  the  nebula,  when  it  was  most  homogeneous,  we 
assume  its  natural  tendency  to  condense,  and  the 
theory  of  evolution  requires,  that  since  then,  it  has 


134  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

been  in  perpetual  process  of  integration,  and  dissipa- 
tion. This  means,  that  "substance,"  a  term  applied 
indiscriminately  to  matter  in  all  forms,  is  a  combina- 
tion of  matter  and  motion.  It  is  in  constant  change, 
and  when  we  say  that  it  always  follows  the  line  of 
least  resistance,  we  mean  that  it  is  moving  from  a 
location,  where  it  is,  to  another,  where  it  is  not,  and 
that  this  results  in  what  is  a  change  of  form,  more 
adapted  than  the  preceding  one.  This  change  is  some- 
times said  to  produce  an  equilibrium.  This  it  does  not 
do,  except  in  the  sense  of  more  or  less  persistence. 
Substance  is  not  long  persistent  in  any  one  form. 

But,  in  fact,  there  is  no  equilibrium,  except  in  the 
homogeneity  of  a  nebula,  where  all  the  particles,  in 
theory,  are  equally  distributed,  and  of  this  we  can 
have,  with  our  limited  senses,  no  conception.  The  line, 
that  matter  and  motion,  always  take,  in  making  and 
unmaking  the  forms  of  things,  is  the  line  of  least 
resistance.  The  line  of  least  resistance,  in  the  psychi- 
cal device  of  man,  is  the  tendency  of  "mind"  always 
to  maintain  the  life  of  the  organism,  and  perpetuate  it 
by  heredity.  This  is  done  by  sensations  taking  the 
paths  marked  out  for  them  in  the  nervous  tissue. 
Otherwise,  its  correspondence  with  objective  environ- 
ment would  soon  be  severed,  and  all  life  would  soon 
end. 

The  process  called  reason  is  modified  very  largely 
by  the  simple  emotions  of  fear,  anger,  the  affections, 
the  sexual  emotion,  and  sense  of  possession ;  and  by  the 
multitudinous  combinations  of  these  in  complex,  and 
secondary  emotions,  which  existed  in  the  organism 
long  before  reason  was  developed.  The  common 
necessity  of  sustentation  of  the  body,  and  defense  of 
life,  nearly  always  determines  the  final  channels  of 


MENTAL    AND    SOCIAL    EVOLUTION      135 

sensations,  or  feelings.  Sustentation  is  transfer  of 
substance  from  where  it  is  to  where  it  is  not,  and  a 
change  during  the  process  to  a  new  form ;  and  fear,  or 
defense  of  life,  is  the  change  of  the  line  of  motion  of 
substance,  from  where  there  is  resistance,  to  a  line 
where  there  is  little.  In  all  cases,  the  final  decision  of 
so-called  reason,  i.  e.,  the  course  the  molecular  process 
producing  the  mental  hesitation  will  take,  depends 
upon  some  motive  outside  of  the  so-called  mind  itself, 
operating  through  the  emotions,  or  instincts,  gener- 
ally through  love  or  fear.  For  example,  when  a  man 
unexpectedly  confronts  danger  to  his  person,  or  to  his 
family,  the  direction  of  his  motor  action,  or  "will 
power"  is  entirely  governed  by  the  emotion  of  fear 
suddenly  aroused.  He  meets  it  by  doing  that  which 
his  judgment  dictates,  as  the  most  effective,  for  avoid- 
ing the  danger.  The  sensation  terminates,  in  the 
motor  action,  which  the  peculiar  form  of  his  brain 
compels  him  to  take.  It  is  the  preservation  of  him- 
self, or  his  race,  that  produces  the  reason  and  the 
"will,"  or,  as  said  above,  the  transfer  of  motor 
actions,  from  the  line  of  resistance,  to  one  of  lesser 
resistance.  Thus,  in  reality,  what  is  called  the  mind 
of  the  organism,  which  is  nothing  but  the  aggregation 
of  natural  feelings,  induced  by  molecular,  or  chemical 
motion,  initiated  by  objectivity,  has  no  control  what- 
ever in  forcing  this  molecular  power  of  the  brain  into 
any  but  natural  channels,  and  only  into  such  channels, 
as  make  for  the  physical  welfare  of  the  individual  and 
his  race.  It  is  along  this  line  only  that  his  brain  has 
developed. 

Any  departure  from  this  principle  simply  ends  in 
calamity  to  the  individual.  The  world  is  strewn  with 
the  wrecks  of  lives  because  the  reason  of  man  has 


136  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

often  become  insane  upon  this  proposition.  Nations 
and  civilizations  have  failed  because  their  measures 
have  departed  from  the  natural,  and  physical  welfare 
of  man,  and  society,  into  the  realm  of  fantasy  and 
imagination.  The  French  kings,  who,  by  their  acts, 
brought  on  the  French  Revolution ;  and  George  III,  who 
lost  to  England  her  most  valuable  colonial  possession 
in  America,  are  vivid  examples  of  brains,  that  ignored 
the  law  of  natural  cause  and  effect.  It  is  so,  with  every 
individual,  who  ignores  the  physiology  of  his  body  by 
living  intemperately,  or  who  does  any  act,  inimical  to 
his  health,  or  morals.  There  are  certain  channels,  in 
which  reason  must  operate,  if  it  is  to  be  effective.  Dis- 
aster comes  sooner  or  later,  if  it  neglect  these  for 
others,  not  regulated  by  the  law  of  fitness,  viz.,  the  sur- 
vival of  the  fittest.  Said  James  A.  Froude,  in  his 
lecture  on  "Science  of  History,"  "Men  have  gone  on, 
for  centuries,  trying  to  regulate  trade  on  moral  prin- 
ciples. They  would  fix  wages  according  to  some  imag- 
inary rule  of  fairness;  they  would  fix  prices,  by  what 
they  consider  things  ought  to  cost ;  they  encouraged 
one  trade,  or  discouraged  another  for  moral  reasons. 
They  might  as  well  have  tried  to  work  a  steam-engine 
on  moral  reasons.  The  great  statesmen,  whose  names 
are  connected  with  these  enterprises,  might  have  as 
well  legislated  that  water  should  run  up  hill." 

The  reason  of  man  is  like  the  government  stamp  on 
the  gold  coin.  It  is  very  limited  in  its  scope.  It  guar- 
antees the  purity  and  weight  according  to  a  law  arbi- 
trarily adopted  by  the  Government  itself.  That  is, 
according  to  the  reasoning  of  man.  It  does  not  and 
cannot  guarantee  the  fixity  of  its  exchangeable  value 
for  the  products  of  the  world.  The  natural  law  of 
supply  and  demand,  and  all  economical  laws,  are  made 


MENTAL    AND    SOCIAL    EVOLUTION      137 

by  the  interaction  of  natural  readjustments,  on  the 
same  principle  that  the  law  of  evolution  operates. 
The  reason  of  man  can  advance  to  the  point  of  estab- 
lishing a  currency,  uniform  in  weight  and  purity;  but 
its  real  value  as  currency  in  the  purchase  and  sale  of 
commodities  is  beyond  the  reach  of  legislation. 
Fifteen  years  ago  it  would  buy  fifty  per  cent,  more  of 
wheat,  bacon,  butter  and  eggs  than  it  will  now  (1912). 
Then  it  was  a  dollar  in  the  market.  Now  it  is  about 
sixty  cents.  So  it  is  with  everything  man  reasons  out. 
If  it  is  in  accordance  with  the  natural  law  of  evolution 
— that  is,  the  law  of  rhythm  of  motion,  and  consequent 
readjustments  constantly  going  on,  not  only  in  the  in- 
organic, but  in  the  organic  universe,  it  is  righteous; 
otherwise  it  is  unrighteous,  and  must  be  readjusted. 
Man  is  very  gradually  growing,  as  the  ages  elapse,  into 
closer  harmony  with  the  natural  laws  of  the  universe. 
The  method  of  development  and  constant  effort,  is  the 
law  of  life  itself;  which  likely  is  all  there  is  of  life. 
When  it  ceases,  there  is  no  more  life,  but  a  stillness  or 
want  of  motion  similar  to  or  the  same  as  that  condition 
which  we  now  call  death. 

ALL  EVOLUTION  ALIKE. — The  method  of  man's  evolu- 
tion has  been  the  same  as  cosmic  evolution,  the  struggle 
for  existence,  and  the  survival  of  the  fittest.  When 
he  came  to  aggregate  with  his  fellows  into  a  society 
for  better  protection  and  mutual  enjoyment,  the  sav- 
age elements  of  his  former  "tiger  and  ape"  methods 
still  clung  to  him.  It  was  difficult  for  him  to  rise  to 
the  requirements  of  civilized  life,  and  in  doing  so 
the  old  habits  to  a  certain  degree,  such  as  indiffer- 
ence to  the  cries  of  the  weak,  clung  to  him.  These  relics 
of  the  past  condition  are  called  by  the  present  average 
of  men,  sins.  They  do  not  know  that  they  are  naturally 


138  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

inherited  from  our  ancestors.  "He  (man)  punishes 
many  of  the  acts  which  flow  from  them  as  crimes;  and 
in  extreme  cases  he  does  his  best  to  put  an  end  to  the 
survival  of  the  fittest  of  former  days,  by  axe  and  rope." 
(Huxley). 

The  difficulty  is  to  put  into  practice  the  golden  rule 
ethics,  in  opposition  to  the  continued  struggle  for 
existence.  The  two  principles,  that  of  altruism  and 
that  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  are  struggling  with 
each  other  in  human  society.  At  their  extremes  they 
both  seem  to  be  destructive  of  the  bonds  of  society. 
Therefore  both  must  be  kept  within  bounds.  Altruism 
must  not  be  allowed  to  weaken  the  race  by  the  perpet- 
uation of  the  mentally,  morally  or  physically  weak. 
Neither  should  death  be  courted  too  much  in  favor  of 
those  who  may  think  themselves  the  fittest.  Man,  with 
his  present  limited  comprehension  of  the  cosmic  method, 
is  very  apt  to  blunder  in  his  social  laws.  Hence  the 
failure  of  nations  and  civilizations  in  their  permanency. 
"If  this  world  is  full  of  pain  and  sorrow;  if  grief  and 
evil  fall  like  rain  upon  both  the  just  and  unjust;  it  is 
because,  like  the  rain,  they  are  links  in  the  endless 
chain  of  natural  causation  by  which  past,  present  and 
future  are  indissolubly  connected ;  and  there  is  no  more 
injustice  in  the  one  case  than  in  the  other."  (Huxley). 

Says  Karl  Marx,  ' '  The  mode  of  production  in  material 
life  determines  the  general  character  of  the  social, 
political  and  spiritual  processes  of  life.  It  is  not  the 
consciousness  of  men  that  determines  their  existence; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  their  social  existence  determines 
their  consciousness."  Suppose  we  make  a  somewhat 
different  statement  of  this  principle :  The  consciousness 
of  man  is  the  product  of  his  total  environment.  This 
environment  is  a  very  complex  one,  but  is  wholly 


MENTAL    AND    SOCIAL    EVOLUTION      139 

physical,  or  material.  The  two  obvious  factors  are 
the  inorganic  and  the  organic.  The  latter  includes 
"social  existence"  as  mentioned  by  Marx.  As  this 
"social  existence"  includes  the  psychical  phenomena  of 
mankind,  by  which  society  in  all  its  forms  is  created 
and  sustained,  it  is,  in  the  latter  evolution  of  man,  the 
predominant  factor.  But  consciousness  is  the  trans- 
formed image  in  the  brain  of  man,  of  his  entire  environ- 
ment. 

MISCONCEPTIONS. — The  misconceptions  of  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  survival  of  the  fittest  in  all  nature,  and 
its  application  to  society  by  the  writers  of  current 
periodical  literature,  is  most  astonishing  in  many 
instances.  For  instance,  says  one  "Here"  (in  human 
society)  "it  means  that  the  mass  of  men  must  consent, 
in  the  interests  of  progress,  to  be  driven  to  the  wall, 
in  order  that  a  few  more  excellent  individuals  may  be 
selected  to  rule  society  and  keep  it  at  the  maximum 
of  efficiency. ' '  This  is  a  misconception  of  the  principle. 
It  does  not  require  the  assent  of  man  in  any  respect ;  but 
of  course,  the  men  who  are  "driven  to  the  wall" 
because  they  are  not  fit,  would  never  consent  to  such 
a  procedure,  and  the  working  of  natural  selection  does 
not  wait  for  them  to  either  assent  or  dissent.  Evidently 
the  writer  of  the  above  quotation  does  not  believe  that 
natural  selection  operates  in  society.  Then  why  do  so 
many  forms  of  society  "go  to  the  wall?"  Because,  he 
may  say,  the  reason  of  man,  which  makes  society, 
fails  to  work  out  the  proper  organization.  But  then,  in 
that  case,  it  is  the  working  of  natural  selection  in  letting 
them  fail.  That  psychic  function  called  reason,  as  said 
before,  is  simply  the  result  of  the  fusion  of  certain 
images  in  the  brain  cortex,  by  which  something  un- 


140  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

known  before,  becomes  known.  The  value  of  these 
results,  or  lessons,  depends  upon  their  persistence  in 
the  lives  of  men.  Those  that  prove  of  value  to  the 
individual,  or  the  race,  survive  and  the  others  die. 
This  species  of  natural  selection  is  going  on  all  the 
time,  in  the  brains  of  men.  There  are  a  thousand  rea- 
sonings, which  die,  where  one  of  real  value  survives. 
The  responses,  that  man's  brain  makes  to  environment, 
are  limited  to  the  capacity  of  the  five  senses.  These 
senses  and  their  capacity,  of  functions,  are  biological 
evolutions  according  to  the  law  of  the  survival  of  the 
fittest,  and  are  limited  to  like  material  things  in  the 
environment.  These  things  are  those  forces  that  con- 
tribute to  the  support  of  the  physical  and  psychic  life 
of  man.  Esthetics  and  altruism  are  further  biological 
evolutions  of  the  power  of  the  brain  to  contribute  to 
the  pleasure,  and  therefore  to  the  life  of  the  individual. 
and  the  race.  The  latter  evolve  co-ordinately  with 
intellect,  that  is  the  art,  and  the  ethics  of  savagery 
and  barbarism,  evolve  into  the  art  and  ethics  of  what 
are  called  civilization,  just  as  the  ' '  mind ' '  of  the  former 
becomes  unadapted  to  the  customs  of  that  form  of 
society,  and  evolves  into  the  customs,  that  make  up 
civilization.  This  evolution  is  not  a  struggle,  or  com- 
petition between  the  individuals,  who  make  up  savage 
or  barbarous  tribes,  not  a  conscious  struggle.  But  it 
may  be  a  struggle,  between  tribes,  and  between  such 
tribes,  and  civilized  colonies,  or  nations.  For  exam- 
ple, the  evolution  of  the  United  States  required,  that 
the  native  Indian  tribes  should  be  constantly  pushed 
back,  as  the  white  people  advanced,  to  occupy  the 
country.  But  the  units  of  the  tribes,  and  the  units  of 
the  colonies  gave  "mutual  aid"  to  each  other  in  this 
struggle  of  tribe  with  colony.  The  colonies  survived 


MENTAL    AND    SOCIAL    EVOLUTION       141 

in  the  struggle,  by  the  principle  of  natural  selection, 
and  the  survival  of  the  fittest.  Just  as  the  organic 
units. — cells, — that  make  up  the  organic  body  must 
work  in  harmony  with  each  other,  give  " mutual  aid" 
in  building  up  the  growing  body,  and  in  keeping  it  a 
living  organism,  after  it  is  built  up;  so  must  the  indi- 
viduals forming  a  body  politic  work  together  in  form- 
ing and  supporting,  the  social  organism.  At  the  same 
time,  there  is  a  certain  unconscious  natural  selection, 
constantly  going  on,  even  among  the  individuals,  which 
the  aggregate  reason  of  the  society  does  not  seem  to 
control,  and  this  natural  selection  does  not  interfere 
at  all,  with  the  "mutual  aid"  necessary  to  preserve  the 
unity  of  the  society,  in  its  natural  struggle  for  exist- 
ence, as  a  society.  Neither  is  this  individual  natural 
selection,  or  struggle  for  survival,  a  conscious  one, 
in  the  sense  that  the  mass  of  men  must  consent, 
in  the  interests  of  progress,  to  be  driven  to  the  wall, 
in  order  that  a  few  more  excellent  individuals  may  be 
selected  to  rule  society.  Nor  does  society  itself  select 
those  who  rule  it.  This  is  done  by  natural  selection, 
as  the  ultimate  cause.  That  is,  certain  individuals  are 
possessed  of  superior  ability  to  govern.  If  these  are 
selected,  also,  by  the  individuals  of  the  society,  in  the 
exercise  of  their  reason,  then  the  selection  is  wise. 
But  if  the  unfit  are  selected  to  rule,  it  is  unwise,  -be- 
cause society  suffers.  The  consent  of  men,  as  to  the 
fit  or  unfit,  as  to  "those  who  go  to  the  wall"  or  "those 
•who  rule"  in  society,  can  only  be  governed  by  what 
nature  has  already  done  to  determine  such  matters. 

The  breeder  of  domestic  animals  practices  conscious 
artificial  selection  with  a  purpose,  and  that  is,  to  form 
the  animal  for  the  most  economic  use  of  man.  But 
natural  selection  among  human  beings  in  society,  by 


142  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

which  some  are  better  adapted  to  their  environment 
than  others,  who  are  more  efficient  in  building  and 
keeping  society,  to  a  high  state  of  efficiency,  and  who, 
by  the  consent  of  the  units,  are  thus  selected,  is  not 
controlled  by  reason,  but  by  evolution.  The  term 
"struggle  for  existence,"  as  used  by  evolutionists,  is 
not  a  conscious  fight  to  the  death,  such  as  a  battle 
between  two  opposite  armies.  It  does  not  require  that 
any  one  shall  "consent  to  be  driven  to  the  wall."  But 
we  all  know,  that  a  certain  number  of  individuals  and 
societies  of  all  kinds  born,  die  in  infancy,  others  are 
dying  at  all  times  of  life,  for  the  want  of  some  power 
within  them  to  withstand  what  others,  who  live  and 
thrive,  have  the  power  to  do.  Reason  does  not  seem  to 
control  it,  and  no  "mutual  aid"  can  control  these  sur- 
vivals of  the  fittest.  It  is  true,  the  survivals  often  do 
not  seem  to  us  the  best,  but  would  they  not  seem  so,  if 
reason  really  controlled  it?  But.  as  they  survive, 
nature  must  have  thought  them  the  best.  They  are 
certainly  the  adapted,  or  they  would  not  survive.  It 
is  so,  with  the  forms  of  society.  Those  that  survive 
must  be  the  fittest,  but  they  are  not  what  our  reason 
would  select  in  all  instances.  The  real  fact  seems  to 
be.  that  nature  pays  no  attention  to  the  reason,  or 
desires,  or  the  efforts  of  man.  Man's  evolution  of 
brain  power,  including  reason,  must  be  along  the  line 
of  natural  laws,  or  it  does  not  avail.  If  evolution  by 
natural  selection  is  the  law  of  development,  then  rea- 
son is  confined  to  discovering  man's  relation  to  this 
law,  and  his  conforming  his  human  law  to  that.  He 
seems  to  have  yet  made  but  little  progress  in  that  rela- 
tionship, and  there  is  no  way  to  make  further  progress 
except  by  trial  and  repeated  failure.  Life  consists  of 
such  effort,  to  find  a  solution  to  this  problem,  and  when 


MENTAL    AND    SOCIAL    EVOLUTION       143 

found,  that  is  the  end  of  organic  life.  No  one  can 
reasonably  conclude,  that  the  inequalities  in  the  indi- 
viduals who  make  up  society,  form  a  desirable  condi- 
tion. We  never  can  be  satisfied  to  have  a  large  num- 
ber ""constantly  pushed  to  the- wall"  by  power  of  greed, 
and  selfishness.  If  there  is  a  way  to  prevent  this,  that 
will  be  successful,  the  great  majority  of  mankind 
would  certainly  be  glad  to  adopt  it.  But,  as  yet, 
neither  religion,  nor  reason,  has  been  equal  to  the  task, 
and  they  both  have  been  tried  for  centuries.  There  is 
no  doubt  it  is  a  problem  that  man  himself  must  work 
out,  for  if  there  is  other  power,  personal,  or  abstract, 
with  that  purpose  in  view,  it  certainly  would  have 
solved  it  before  this.  If  natural  selection,  in  the  sur- 
vival of  the  fittest,  can  do  it,  or  if  it  is  designed  for 
this  purpose,  then  Darwin  is  nearer  in  his  contention 
of  the  slowness  of  the  process,  than  DeVries  is  in  its 
quickness  of  mutation. 

REASON,  A  PRODUCT  OF  EVOLUTION. — Reason  itself, 
being  an  evolution,  whatever  it  is  able  to  accomplish, 
must  be  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  evolution.  It 
is  not  likely  that  reason  is  a  creative,  but  a  directive 
power.  It  may  be  able,  in  -a  limited  way,  to  direct 
further  human  sociological  evolution,  along  the  natural 
lines  that  all  evolution  has  so  far  taken,  but  not  out- 
side of  these  lines.  Those  methods  have  been  by 
a  change  of  forms;  by  dissolution,  of  tried  and  una- 
dapted  forms,  and  the  integration  of  those  better 
adapted.  Has  reason  so  far  invented  a  better  process, 
or  can  it  do  so  ?  If  the  present  form  of  society  is  una- 
dapted,  what  can  reason  do  to  improve  it,  except  to 
change  its  form  to  one  better  adapted  to  man's  natu- 
ral place  in  nature?  It  could  not  be  a  change 
to  an  unnatural  place  in  nature.  This  is  what 


144  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

natural  selection,  or  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  in  the 
struggle  for  existence,  is,  and  it  is  never  done  "in  the 
interest  of  a  few  superiors,"  but  in  the  interest  of  the 
increased  power,  or  struggle  of  the  whole  cosmos,  in- 
cluding man,  who  seems  to  be  only  one  passing  phase 
of  it. 

"The  orderly  and  beautiful  world  which  we  see 
around  us"  has  been  thus  orderly  and  beautiful  ever 
since  life  began  on  the  globe.  What  is  called  "the 
struggle  for  existence"  in  all  animal  and  vegetable  life 
is  as  much  a  struggle  now  as  it  ever  was.  It  is  not  a 
conflict  of  arms  with  great  turmoil  and  personal  war. 
It  is  a  silent  natural  process,  unconscious  to  the  contest- 
ants, and  without  apparent  design.  Natural  selection 
is  a  negative,  not  a  positive  force,  and  Darwin  said  that 
he  was  unfortunate  in  calling  it  by  the  name  "natural 
selection."  Perhaps  the  better  term  is  the  "survival 
of  the  fittest."  The  unfit  naturally  and  quietly  die, 
while  the  fit  survive,  not  by  their  own  consent  or  effort, 
but  by  a  law  beyond  the  control  of  either.  This  is  so, 
not  only  with  individuals,  but  with  all  forms  of  social 
aggregations.  The  struggles  constantly  going  on  in 
commercialism,  for  instance,  called  competition  among 
men,  while  designed  by  the  men  themselves,  are  subject 
to  the  same  law.  Over  ninety  per  cent,  of  business  units 
succumb  because  their  methods  are  unfit.  Tribes,  soci- 
eties, nations,  come  and  go,  by  the  same  law.  This  is  no 
argument  against  the  use  of  reason  by  men.  But  that 
reason  must  be  used  for  the  purpose  of  conforming 
man's  and  society's  efforts,  to  discovering  what  is  fit, 
and  therefore  enduring.  The  reason  cannot  change 
the  law.  It  may  eventually  be  able  to  bring  society 
in  proper  relation  to  it,  but  it  has  not  done  so  yet.  The 
small  per  cent,  of  individuals  in  society  who  are  in 


MENTAL    AND    SOCIAL    EVOLUTION       145 

control,  and  seem  to  be  satisfied  now,  are  not  going  to 
initiate  a  change,  and  those  who  are  being  "pushed  to 
the  wall,"  being  to  that  extent  the  unfit,  have  not  the 
power  to  do  so.  There  is  a  constant  interchange  of 
units  from  the  latter  class  to  the  former,  and  as  man- 
kind is  evidently  increasing  in  reasoning  power  from 
generation  to  generation,  in  those  countries  where  rea- 
son is  most  in  use, — that  is,  where  scientific  education 
is  persistently  invoked,  there  is  a  prospect  that  a  solu- 
tion for  the  seeming  injustices  now  existing  may  event- 
ually be  found.  Everybody  must  acknowledge  that  this 
is  but  a  slow  evolution  of  reason,  and  that  it  would  be 
most  desirable  if  it  could  come  by  a  mutation  per 
saltnm;  but  so  far  it  has  not  come  that  way.  The 
earnest  and  able  discussion  of  the  methods  of  economi- 
cal reform  now  going  on  should  greatly  hasten  the 
accomplishing  of  it,  and  every  right-minded  person 
should  desire  and  aid  to  the  extent  of  his  ability  in  its 
consummation.  In  the  United  States  there  is  the  fair- 
est, the  most  favorable  field,  for  the  exercise  of  the 
franchise,  by  a  majority  of  the  votes,  by  electing  those 
who  represent  their  reason  in  the  matter  and  actually 
putting  in  force  the  principle — that  reason  governs  the 
evolution  of  society.  They  would  then  soon  show 
whether  reason,  as  now  evolved,  will  do  this,  in  spite 
of  or  in  accordance  with  the  natural  law  of  natural 
selection,  or  the  survival  of  the  fittest.  If,  in  accordance 
with  the  natural  law,  it  will  likely  be  permanent.  Of 
course,  if  natural  selection  is  not  the  law  of  evolution 
in  society,  but  "mutual  aid"  is,  then  reason  must  con- 
form to  that  law.  To  be  at  all  effective,  reason  can 
only  evolve,  and  operate,  along  the  lines  of  the  natural 
law  whatever  it  is. 

FORMS  OF  SOCIETY. — The  evolution  of  the  gens,  the 


146  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

phratry,  the  family,  the  tribe,  and  the  state,  all  forms 
of  society  ever  since  man  became  a  social  being,  has 
occurred  by  the  same  method  as  the  evolution  of  the 
individual;  viz.,  by  natural  selection,  and  the  survival 
of  the  fittest.  The  existence  of  each  aggregate  was 
necessarily  adapted  to  the  physical  necessities  at  the 
time ;  and  whatever  laws  or  customs  grew  out  of  the 
conditions  were,  at  the  time  and  under  all  the  circum- 
stances, those  conducive  to  the  real  happiness  and  wel- 
fare of  the  social  organization.  Otherwise  the  social 
organism  would  not  have  survived.  A  study  of  many 
of  them  shows  that  the  matter  of  sustentation, 
and  its  necessary  mode  of  production  of  food  and 
shelter,  were  the  ruling  factors  in  compelling  the 
individuals  of  each  social  community  in  determining 
the  form  of  government  and  the  morals  of  its  members. 
The  form  of  marriage  called  the  group,  or  afterwards, 
the  pairing,  in  which  the  lineage  was  traced  through 
the  mother,  and  during  which  the  little  property  was 
owned  in  common  in  the  gens,  or  tribe,  as  existed  among 
the  American  Indians,  was  universal  throughout  the 
world,  at  the  same  stage  of  what  is  called  savagery, 
or  in  the  lower  forms  of  barbarism.  It  is  as  true  of 
the  Greeks.  Romans  or  Germans  in  the  same  stage  of 
evolution  as  it  was  with  the  Celt  and  the  Indian.  Mon- 
ogamy became  a  custom  only  when  private  property 
came  to  be  recognized  and  protected;  and  the  monog- 
amous family  heralded  our  present  form  of  civilization, 
in  which  the  lineage  is  traced  through  the  father,  be- 
cause he  is  the  producer  of  commodities  and  the  holder 
of  the  wealth.  These  changes  necessitated  new  forms 
of  society,  or  community  governed  by  new  laws.  This 
relegated  woman  to  the  inferior  position  of  a  domestic 
care-taker:  whereas,  in  barbarism  and  savagery,  she 


MENTAL    AND    SOCIAL    EVOLUTION       147 

was  the  real  head  of  the  gens  or  kin.  The  evolution 
of  society,  at  every  step,  was  not  controlled  by  senti- 
ment, or  idealism,  or  by  a  priori  reasoning,  but  by 
purely  materialistic  conditions;  or,  in  other  words,  by 
economics;  and  this  was  always  determined  solely  by 
the  principle  of  natural  selection,  the  adaptation  of  the 
fittest  to  the  physical  welfare  of  the  social  unit. 

Captain  Fitz-Roy,  of  the  good  ship  Beagle,  carrying 
Professor  Darwin  round  the  world,  brought  also  from 
England,  a  young  Fuegian,  who  had  been  taken  to  that 
country  two  years  before.  This  boy  was  returning  to 
his  people  in  the  territory  adjoining  Magellan's  Straits, 
at  the  south  end  of  South  America.  He  was  dressed 
in  civilized  costume,  could  talk  broken  English,  and 
took  with  him  several  articles  of  English  manufacture. 
He  was  left  on  shore,  as  the  vessel  passed  through 
the  Straits  toward  the  Pacific  Ocean.  When  the  ship 
returned  some  months,  or  years  later,  the  Captain 
landed  and  hunted  up  the  boy.  The  first  day.  he  did 
not  find  him.  But  the  next  morning,  "a  canoe,"  says 
Darwin,  "with  a  little  flag  flying,  was  seen  approaching, 
with  one  of  the  men  in  it,  washing  the  paint  off  his  face. 
This  man  was  poor  Jemmy, — now  a  thin,  haggard 
savage  with  long,  disordered  hair,  and  naked,  except  a 
bit  of  blanket  round  his  waist.  *  '  *  *  We  had  left 
him  plump,  fat,  clean,  and  well-dressed:  I  never  saw 
so  complete  and  grieveous  a  change. "  (It  was  grieveous 
to  Darwin,  but  not  to  Jemmy).  *  *  *  "He  told  us 
he  had  enough  to  eat,  that  he  was  not  cold,  that  his 
relatives  were  very  good  people,  and  that  he  did  not 
wish  to  go  back  to  England."  Darwin  goes  on  to  say, 
"I  do  not  doubt  now,  that  he  will  be  as  happy  as, 
perhaps  happier  than,  if  he  had  never  left  his  own 
country.  Everyone  must  sincerely  hope  that  Captain 


148  UNIVERSAL   EVOLUTION 

Fitz-Roy's  noble  hope  may  be  fulfilled,  of  being 
rewarded  for  the  many  generous  sacrifices  which  he 
made  for  these  Fnegians,  by  some  shipwrecked  sailor 
being  protected  by  the  descendants  of  Jemmy  Button 
and  his  tribe." 

The  chief  of  the  tribe,  and  its  customs,  in  thus  com- 
pelling "Jemmy"  to  revert  to  the  habits  of  barbarism, 
seem  cruel  to  the  civilized  man  only.  But  not  to 
"Jemmy,"  who  had  experienced  both.  The  "reason- 
ing" of  the  tribe  necessarily  took  that  line,  and  form, 
which  meant  the  preservation  of  the  tribe's  necessary 
correspondence  with  its  wild  and  savage  environment, 
commensurate  with  the  limited  intelligence  of  the  indi- 
viduals; while  the  sympathy  of  the  civilians  on  board 
the  "Beagle"  took  also,  that  line  and  form,  which 
would  preserve  the  correspondence  of  "Jemmy"  with 
English  civilization,  or  environment,  and  therefore  was 
unfit  in  the  environment  upon  which  "Jemmy"  was 
then  entering.  It  is  evident  that  "Jemmy"  was  wise 
in  remaining  with  his  race.  His  reasoning,  in  the  mat- 
ter, was  wholly  determined  by  his  environment,  acting 
upon  what  brain  he  had.  It  is  the  same  with  the 
American  Indian.  When  one  is  taken  away  from  his 
tribe,  and  educated  in  a  civilized  school,  then  returned, 
he  doffs  the  civilian's  clothes,  and  dons  the  blanket. 
The  perfect  equality  of  the  individuals,  making  up  the 
communities  in  savagery,  or  barbarism,  makes  the  pos- 
session of  clothes,  or  anything  else,  by  one  individual, 
not  common  to  the  tribe,  an  impossibility.  This  law 
keeps  the  peace,  subdues  passions,  hatreds,  mean  am- 
bitions, and  prevents  strife  and  war.  It  is  these  facts, 
that  compel  the  reason  of  the  returned  Indian  to  again 
conform  to  the  customs  of  his  tribe,  which  he  had  dis- 
carded while  in  the  white  man's  college,  or  country, 


MENTAL    AND    SOCIAL    EVOLUTION       149 

where  his  reasoning  took  an  entirely  different  form. 
The  right  of  private  property,  barter  and  sale  of  pro- 
duction, characteristic  of  our  civilization,  but  unknown 
in  savagery,  have  brought  with  them  the  crimes  pecu- 
liar to  them,  and  changed  the  reason  of  its  personal 
units  into  a  channel  conformed  to  the  support  of  these 
economical  conditions.  Whether  we  could  have  the  evi- 
dent advantages  of  civilization,  without  the  crimes  is 
doubtful,  and  yet  civilization  could  not  revert  to  sav- 
agery, for  the  sake  of  its  equality  of  individuals. 

Commiseration  of  the  conditions  in  savagery  is 
wasted,  because  such  conditions  are  perfectly  compati- 
ble with  its  mental  and  physical  development,  and  per- 
haps contain  as  few  proportionate  necessary  evils,  as 
does  our  civilization.  The  freedom  and  equality  of  sav- 
age tribes  have  never  been  maintained,  when  the  brain 
development  advanced  such  tribes,  to  a  civilized  condi- 
tion. Tribal  governments  are  almost  pure  democracies. 
So  that  "Jemmy,"  by  rejoining  his  tribe,  became  an 
equal  with  his  associates,  socially  and  politically,  and 
this  fact  undoubtedly  determined  him  not  to  return  to 
England.  It  is  not  necessary  to  mention,  what  his 
social  and  political  status  would  have  been  had  he 
chosen  to  remain  in  England,  to  which  he  was  wholly 
unadapted. 

There  was  no  slavery  in  the  clans,  gentes,  tribes  of 
the  Indians;  nor  of  any  people  at  that  stage  of  their 
evolution,  because  production  was  enjoyed  in  common, 
and  was  not  a  commodity.  As  soon  as  private  prop- 
erty came  to  be  protected,  commercialism,  and  slavery 
arose.  These  needed  stronger  protection,  than  the 
tribe  could,  or  would  give  them.  Hence,  the  state  was 
formed  with  police  power,  and  militarism,  under  which, 
the  exploitation  of  the  weak  by  the  strong,  was  legal- 


150  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

ized.  But,  when  this  immense  and  significant  change 
came  about,  the  numbers  of  the  people  had  so  largely 
increased,  as  to  outgrow  the  possibility  of  the  gentile, 
the  tribal  powers,  and  customs.  These  needed  that 
each  member  of  the  tribe  should  be  personally 
known  to  almost  every  other  member.  We  are, 
therefore,  compelled  to  assume  that  the  state, 
which  was  evolved  from  these  natural  condi- 
tions,— our  own  civilization. — was  that  form  of 
society  best  adapted  to  the  material  conditions  out  of 
which  they  so  evidently  grew.  It  is,  surely,  not  an 
ideal  civilization,  nor  such  as  the  sentiment,  or  the 
reason  of  men,  in  the  aggregate,  could  they  control  it, 
would  select,  or  make,  and  the  present  form  of  society 
will  not  endure.  Society  is  in  constant  process  of 
transformation,  caused  by  material,  not  sentimental 
motives,  beyond  the  real  control  of  men.  Therefore, 
reason  has  had  little  to  do  with  it,  except  to  follow  the 
impulses  given  it,  by  material  conditions.  It  is  an  evo- 
lution through,  not  by,  psychical  processes,  called  ideas, 
and  the  ideas  were  formed  by  sensations,  from  the 
objective  environment. 

"Natural  selection"  determines,  in  the  last  resort, 
which  nations  shall  survive,  what  groupings  of  man- 
kind are  most  vigorous,  and  what  organizations  are 
most  successful."  (Prof.  Ritchie.)  What  is  it,  therefore, 
but  a  physical,  or  biological  evolution? 

MAN  STILL  EVOLVING. — Man  then,  as  a  social  and 
reasoning  organism,  is  still  evolving,  both  biologically, 
and  psychologically.  He  can  never  hope  to  free  him- 
self from  the  biological  laws  of  natural  selection  now, 
nor  at  any  future  period  of  his  evolution. 

Alfred  Russell  Wallace  has  argued,  that  after  the 
development  of  those  intellectual  and  moral  faculties 


MENTAL    AND    SOCIAL    EVOLUTION       151 

in  man,  which  distinguish  him  from  the  lower  animals, 
he  would  be  little  liable  to  change  in  bodily  modifica- 
tions through  natural  selection,  or  any  other  means. 
That  is,  man  through  his  mental  faculties  is  enabled 
to  keep  in  harmony  with  the  changing  universe,  with 
an  unchanged  body.  Following  this  essay,  by  Wallace, 
or  perhaps  before,  or  simultaneously,  many  opponents 
of  the  evolution  theory,  took  heart,  and  began  to  assert 
that  the  evolution  of  reason  in  man  gave  him  control 
of  his  own  development,  and  as  to  him,  natural  selec- 
tion did  not  apply.  There  is  no  doubt  that  man  has 
great  power  of  adapting  his  habits  to  new  conditions 
in  life.  His  inventive  genius  enables  him  to  make  tools 
and  implements  to  aid  him  in  his  correspondence  with 
a  more  complex  environment,  far  beyond  the  power  of 
the  lower  animals.  These  inventions  enable  him  to 
get  into  touch  with  more  productive  sources  of  natural 
law,  but  not  to  change  those  laws  for  his  own  benefit. 
This  increased  mental  power  comes  to  him  only,  as  his 
nervous  structure  increases,  so  as  to  bear  a  larger  ratio 
to  his  total  body,  or  at  least  by  largely  increasing  the 
complexity  of  his  nervous  system.  While  this  can  be 
done,  perhaps,  without  very  greatly  changing  his  out- 
ward bodily  form,  yet  it  is  a  change  of  bodily  form 
internally,  and  this  change  is,  undoubtedly,  continually 
modifying  the  whole  bodily  structure.  By  comparing 
the  head,  and  facial  expression,  of  an  intellectual  white 
man,  with  a  red  savage  Indian,  one  can  readily  com- 
prehend this  fact.  Every  change,  in  the  mental  capac- 
ity, is  imaged  in  the  external  physical  marks  of  the 
body. 

Man  can  never  be  entirely  freed  from  the  control 
of  biological  evolution  by  reason  of  an  increase  of  his 
psychology,  which  means  his  correspondence  with  his 


152  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

environment.  The  very  fact,  mentioned  by  Wallace, 
that  man  must  keep  in  harmony  with  the  changing 
universe,  means  that,  as  the  universe  changes  man's 
perception  and  conception  change,  and  this  means  a 
change  or  modification  of  his  brain  structure,  which  is 
a  part  of  his  body. 

SURVIVAL  OF  HUMAN  LAWS. — We  know  from  our  own 
observation  upon  which  we  base  human  law,  that 
whatever  seems  wisest  and  best  in  social  custom,  even 
to  ourselves,  eventually  survives;  and  whatever  is 
wisest  and  best,  humanly  speaking,  should  be  the  fittest. 
But  remember  at  the  same  time  that  our  human  ideas 
of  the  best  and  the  fittest  are  not  always  the  same 
as  the  wide  reaching  methods  of  cosmic  forces.  As  one 
instance  of  the  operation  of  natural  selection,  in  the 
survival  of  the  best  in  human  institutions ;  but  beyond 
the  control  of  human  design,  except  as  a  design,  may  be 
shown  in  repeated  experiment,  to  be  an  effort  toward 
the  natural  law  governing  society ;  take  the  illustration 
of  the  celebrated  lawyer  who,  in  commenting  on  the 
evolution  of  the  common  law  of  England:  in  its 
wonderful  adaptation  to  the  preservation  of  the 
interests  of  man,  in  his  governmental  relations,  with 
that  form  of  government  peculiar  to  England,  said  that 
if  all  the  criminals  who  had  been  condemned  by  the 
law,  could  be  placed  on  a  lone  island  in  mid-ocean  and 
left  to  their  own  control,  they  would,  as  a  matter  of 
self-preservation,  be  compelled  to  adopt  the  very  code 
of  laws  by  which  they  had  been  condemned.  This 
might  not  occur  until  a  large  number  has  been  anni- 
hilated, through  ignorance,  by  a  violation  of  the 
natural  laws  of  sociology  and  obedience  to  an  unfit 
criminal  code.  Then,  a  statute  law,  found  best  fitted 
to  preserve  the  natural  laws,  would  be  necessarily 


MENTAL    AND    SOCIAL    EVOLUTION       153 

adopted.  That  is,  those  who  have  a  variation  of  brain 
structure,  enabling  them  to  keep  in  harmony  with 
natural  and  social  law,  survive,  and  those  who  do  not, 
die.  Man's  artificial  selection  of  customs,  or  habits, 
must  be  in  conformity  with  the  natural  selection  of 
cosmic  law.  England's  common  law  was  strong  and 
sufficing  only  as  it  coordinated  with  natural  law,  and 
that  condition  was  not  evolved  until  many  laws  had 
been  tried  and  discarded.  The  common  law  of  England 
is  the  result  of  a  thousand  years  of  social  evolution,  and 
yet  its  theory  still  abides,  that  every  interest  rests  in 
a  king,  which  shows  that  English  government  is  in  a 
state  of  further  evolution.  These  castaways  on  an 
island  would,  of  course,  not  be  compelled  to  choose  a 
king;  but,  for  self-protection,  do  the  reverse.  Under 
penalty  of  ultimate  extinction,  otherwise,  they  would 
be  forced  to  adopt  those  laws,  viz.,  customs,  that  all 
human  experience  has  shown  to  be  necessary  for  the 
support  of  society.  While  codes  could  be  adopted  that 
might,  in  very  many  particulars  differ  from  the  common 
law  of  England,  especially  in  regard  to  royalty  and 
state  church,  and  in  the  penalties  attached  to  crimes 
and  misdemeanors,  yet  the  rights  of  man  and  the  rights 
of  property,  would  have  to  be  protected  in  practically 
the  same  way  that  these  were  in  the  laws  under  which 
these  criminals  were  condemned.  The  whole  social 
evolution  has  been,  as  far  as  man  had  anything  to  do 
with  it,  trial,  failure,  and  continually  a  repetition  of 
trial  in  different  forms  and  directions,  never  quite  solv- 
ing the  final  problem.  Perfection  has  not  yet  been 
reached,  and  perhaps  never  will  be. 

If  all  conventional  human  laws  could  be  erased,  and 
men  left  to  protect  society  by  those  customs,  which 
experience  would  compel,  it  would  be  found  that  there 


154  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

is  a  natural  law  by  which  alone  the  social  bond  could 
be  preserved.  This  is  the  law  to  which  all  conventional 
laws,  all  written  constitutions,  and  statutes  must 
conform,  under  penalty  of  social  and  individual  extinc- 
tion for  violations.  The  Stoics  first  gave  distinctive 
expression  to  this  principle — the  conception  of  an 
ethical  ideal,  abiding  above  the  will  of  legislators. 
Plato  undertook  to  prove  that  this  principle  rested 
on  the  constitution  of  man,  and  of  human  society. 
Aristotle  recognized  that  there  was  an  ideal  standard 
more  fundamental  than  the  written  or  unwritten  law 
of  custom.  Thus  C4reece  and  Rome  gave  to  mankind 
a  natural  ethic,  viz.,  that  natural  law  is  the  fundamental 
morality,  independent  of  convention,  and  superior  to 
enactment  of  kings.  This  is  really  the  law  of  evolution 
in  its  broadest  sense.  If  the  law  of  evolution  by  natural 
selection  is  really  the  natural  law  it  seems  to  be,  then 
it  is  the  principle  that  the  reason  of  man  must  conform 
to,  which  is  independent  of  convention  and  superior  to 
enactment  of  kings  or  parliaments.  Man's  reason  will 
therefore,  eventually  grow  to  fit  into  it. 

In  the  British  Museum,  among  the  great  number  of 
valuable  ancient  manuscripts,  is  one  of  1419,  attributed 
to  Henry  5th,  King  of  England.  There  is  another 
manuscript,  letter  of  Queen  Victoria's  dated  March  16, 
1885.  Henry's  was  written  before  the  art  of  printing 
was  invented  in  Europe.  There  is  a  period  of  466  years 
between  the  two  dates,  which  represent  a  wonderful 
evolution  in  the  methods  of  ruling  the  people,  the 
constitution  of  laws,  the  manners  and  customs  of  the 
English  people.  But  what  is  to  be  noticed  here  is  the 
difference  between  these  two  manuscripts,  in  the 
chirography.  the  spelling,  the  grammar,  and  the  ideas 
expressed.  There  would  naturally  be  much  difference 


MENTAL   AND   SOCIAL   EVOLUTION      155 

between  the  penmanship  of  the  two  sovereigns,  one  a 
male  and  the  other  a  female,  but  the  formation  of  the 
letters  of  the  period  of  Henry  5th  is  very  primitive. 
The  word  "brother"  is  used  in  both  letters.  Henry 
writes  it  "bjuthe, "  Queen  Victoria  writes  it  "Brother," 
with  a  capital  B.  Henry  says,  "Wherefore  I  wolle 
that  the  Due  of  Orliance  be  kept  st(i)lle  within  the 
castil  of  Pontfret."  arid  the  letter  refers  to  the  care 
with  which  he  desires  his  prisoners  of  war  to  be  kept. 
The  queen's  letter  is  in  acknowledgment  of  a  gift  from 
Miss  Gordon  of  General  C.  G.  Gordon's  bible.  The  two 
manuscripts  are  fine  examples  of  the  evolution,  in  four 
centuries  of  language,  chirography,  and  expression; 
but,  also,  of  the  remarkable  evolution,  during  that 
period,  of  the  functions  of  the  Kingly  office,  as 
expressed  in  the  subjects  of  the  two  letters;  in  Henry's 
time,  war,  oppression,  the  support  of  Kingly  power, 
imprisonment.  In  the  Queen's  reign,  these  thoughts 
had  been  turned  to  social  duties,  and  the  sympathetic 
functions.  In  this  letter,  she  speaks  of  the  "bible,"  a 
"dear  brother,"  and  the  erection  of  works  of  art. 

All  such  relics  of  important  characters,  in  the 
world's  history,  exhibit  the  mental  condition  of  the 
people  at  the  time,  and  in  many  instances  the  moral 
condition  also.  They  display  these  much  more  surely 
than  do  the  pages  of  history.  The  letters  of  Henry 
and  Victoria  do  this  more  certainly  than  would  the 
manuscripts  of  Chaucer  for  instance,  who  wrote  his 
poetry  in  the  14th  century,  and  was  a  learned  scholar, 
and  of  Longfellow  of  the  19th  century.  For  these  two 
were  literary,  and  better  educated,  in  language  and 
literature,  at  least,  than  the  society  of  their  times. 
But,  we  cannot  say  as  much  of  royal  personages.  Their 
education  is  limited  to  certain  things.  In  real  attain- 


156  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

ments  they  are  little  above  the  average  of  their  people. 
The  object  of  this  comparison  of  the  manuscripts  of 
King  and  Queen,  is  to  illustrate  the  evolution  of  mind, 
and  its  attributes  and  products,  in  the  short  time  of 
four  centuries.  This  evolution  is  shown  as  much,  in 
what  man  has  abandoned,  as  in  what  he  has  acquired. 
The  customs  that  he  has  dropped,  mean  an  advance- 
ment in  mental  habit.  The  change,  marking  the  begin- 
ning of  the  20th  century,  in  the  manner  in  which  inter- 
national questions  shall  be  met,  means  the  abandon- 
ment of  war,  and  the  resort  to  courts  of  arbitration 
instead.  These  changes  all  occur  through  the  principal 
of  natural  selection,  and  the  survival  of  the  fittest.  It 
is  so  in  the  forms  of  government,  when  republics  follow 
monarchies.  It  is  a  constant  readjustment,  until  an 
adapted  form  is  reached,  and  that  may  undergo  modifi- 
cations for  a  very  long  period,  before  a  desirable  form 
shall  be  reached. 


CHAPTER  VI 
MIND  IS  FUNCTION 

THERE  are  two  theories  of  the  method  of  con- 
sciousness and  thought.  One  is  that  thought 
is  produced  through  the  mechanism  of  the 
brain  by  an  indefinable,  but  independent 
force.1  Another  is,  that  the  brain  and  nervous  system, 
in  its  molecular  motion,  its  metabolism,  produces  the 
thought  and  consciousness.  The  molecular  motion  of 
the  brain,  as,  of  all  the  tissues  of  the  body,  is  a  spe- 
cialized form  of  cosmic  energy,  and  is  as  natural  and 
material  as  any  other  movement.  The  nervous  fiber 
is  a  specialized  form  of  protoplasm,  made  so  by  its 
constituent  elements.  Its  composition  is  exceedingly 
mobile,  and  therefore  extremely  sensitive,  to  incident 
forces.  It  is  so  placed  in  the  body,  as  to  receive  im- 
pressions of  the  phenomena  outside  of  itself,  which 
have  any  bearing  whatever  upon  its  own  preservation. 
This  is  its  correspondence  with  environment;  and  its 
reaction  to  this  correspondence  is  its  physical,  as  well 
as  its  psychical  life.  This  reaction,  of  the  nerve  tissue, 
is  its  molecular  motion,  and  controls,  or  inhibits,  the 
constant  momentary  movements  of  the  organism  in  all 
its  parts,  including  that  aggregation  of  its  feelings 
called  its  "mind."  Those  who  profess  to  believe  in 
the  independence  of  thought,  from  this  physical  pulsa- 
tion, acknowledge  the  molecular  movement,  but  dis- 
miss it  with  the  expression,  that  it  is  parallel  only  with 
the  thought.  The  materialist  says  it  is  the  thought. 

NATURE  OP  MOLECULAR  MOTION. — It  is  well  to  state, 
in  this  connection,  that  molecular  motion  of  nerve  mat- 

157 


158  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

ter,  is  not  merely  mechanical  movement,  by  change 
of  position,  of  many  round  atoms  of  substance.  It  is 
the  function  of  the  structure.  The  molecules  of  matter 
that  makes  up  the  tissues  of  living  bodies,  are  the 
storage  batteries  of  energy,  transformed  from  the 
animal  and  vegetable  food,  taken  into  the  diges- 
tive apparatus;  and  molecular  motion  in  the  nerve 
tissue  means  that  this  energy  is  being  released  by 
catabolism.  in  the  form  of  psychic  phenomena;  that  is, 
transformed  into  thought  and  ideas.  Materialists  call 
this  a  physical  process,  while  idealists  call  it  an  inde- 
pendent process.  Idealists  contend  that  the  result, — 
thought,  or  ideas, — is  the  cause  of  the  phenomenon, 
while  realists  assert  that  the  physiology  of  the  living 
matter  produces  the  phenomenon.  It  is  really  the 
escape,  by  the  destruction  of  the  proteid  molecule,  or 
cell,  of  the  stored  energy,  or  retained  motion,  which 
has  been  metamorphosed  from  other  animals  or  vege- 
tables, in  the  form  of  food,  by  the  human  being.  This 
destruction  of  nerve  tissues  is  followed,  or  accompanied 
by,  an  observed  psychical  phenomenon,  which  is  varia- 
bly called  thought,  idea,  image,  conception,  imagina- 
tion, or  memory.  Those  molecules  of  matter  thus 
destroyed,  are  quickly  replaced  in  the  living  organism, 
from  the  blood,  by  a  process  called  anabolism. — the 
whole  process,  of  destruction  and  construction,  is  meta- 
bolism. As  said  elsewhere,  the  body  is  a  maelstrom  of 
active  energy,  the  explosions  of  atoms,  or  centers  of 
energy  giving  the  effects.  All  the  mental  and  physical 
activity  of  the  organism  depends  upon  this  physiologi- 
cal process,  and  ceases  entirely  when  the  metabolism 
stops. 

Hnxley,  in  commenting  on  Hume's  contention,  that 
thought  is  produced  by  the  physiology  of  the  brain, 


MIND    IS    FUNCTION  159 

says,  "Surely  no  one,  who  is  cognizant  of  the  facts  of 
the  case,  nowadays  doubts  that  the  roots  of  psychology 
lie  in  the  physiology  of  the  nervous  system.  What  we 
call  the  operations  of  the  mind  are  the  functions  of  the 
brain,  and  the  materials  of  consciousness  are  products 
of  cerebral  activity."  The  strict  line  of  demarcation 
between  the  physiology  of  metabolism  and  the  psychol- 
ogy of  the  thought,  or  idea,  can  well  be  maintained,  if 
we  interpret  thought  as  caused  by  molecular  motion. 
All  the  psychic  effects,  by  which  the  organism  main- 
tains its  correspondence  with  environment,  are  the  ele- 
ments of  psychology,  and  the  molecular  motion  is  the 
physiology. 

There  cannot  be  two  separate  independent  forces 
operating  in  the  realm  of  what  is  called  nature. — the 
one  called  natural,  and  therefore  evolutionary;  and  the 
other,  something  undefined  and  not  subject  to  the  laws 
of  evolution,  nor  the  result  of  it.  All  phenomena, 
usually  called  psychical,  are  one  in  natural  cause,  with 
other  interchanges  of  matter  and  motion  and  matter 
and  motion  are  one  in  reality, — the  unity  of  phenomena 
having  the  dual  aspect  only,  of  structure  and  function. 
Psychical  phenomena  cease  wThen  that  interchange  of 
matter  and  motion  ceases.  They  exist  only  in  connec- 
tion with  nerve  molecular  motion.  Each  brain  produces 
its  peculiar  manifestations  for  that  brain  only.  These 
peculiar  manifestations  or  functions  are  not  produced 
elsewhere  nor  continued  after  the  disintegration  of -the 
brain,  unless  by  an  equivalent  quantity  and  quality 
of  living  brain  tissue. 

Spencer's  definition  of  an  idea  is:  "A  wave  of  molec- 
ular motion  diffused  through  them"  ("an  involved  set 
of  nervous  plexuses"),  "will  produce,  as  its  psychical 
correlative,  the  components  of  the  conception  in  due 


160  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

order  and  degree.  The  idea  lasts  while  the  waves  of 
molecular  motion  last,  ceasing  when  they  cease;  but 
that  which  remains  is  the  set  of  plexuses."  This  means 
that  the  nervous  structure  in  the  brain,  which  has  been 
evolved  biologically,  is  the  permanent  determinant  of 
ideas.  Therefore  the  laws  of  evolution  apply  to 
psychical,  as  well  as  to  physical  phenomena. 

ORGANIC  PRESERVATION. — Every  so-called  action  of 
the  will,  and  every  psychical  action,  e.  g.,  every  thought, 
is  determined  either  by  the  preservation  of  self  or  of 
the  race. 

This  is  the  meaning  of  life.  It  is  an  adjustment  of 
the  organism  to  the  source  of  its  preservation  viz..  its 
physical  environment.  Therefore,  the  law  of  evolution 
in  physical  biology,  which  is  the  preservation  of  the 
individual  and  the  race,  must  apply  to  all  forms  of 
psychical  phenomena 

As  SAID  BY  RIBOT:  "Sensation"  (which  produces 
the  thought)  "is  a  monitor,  an  aid,  an  instrument,  a 
weapon,  with  only  one  aim, — the  preservation  of  the 
individual.  ***** 

The  nexus  between  the  sensations,  and  the  organic, 
and  motor  reaction  is,  therefore,  innate."  This  means, 
it  is  function  of  matter.  This  sensation  may  come  from 
within  the  organism,  but  that  does  not  make  it 
necessarily  subjective,  but  objective.  The  molecular 
motion  within  the  brain  may  be  the  sensation  causing 
other  forms  of  molecular  motion  in  the  same  brain,  or 
thought  producing  thought,  but  it  nevertheless  has  a 
physiological  mark,  the  same  as  sensations  coming  from 
without  the  organism. 

ADVOCATES  OF  INDEPENDENCE. — The  advocates  of  in- 
dependence do  not  tell  us  what  it  is  that  produces 
the  thought,  but  seek  to  measure  by  instrument  the 


MIND    IS    FUNCTION  161 

sensation,  and  its  reaction  in  the  brain,  in  much  the 
same  manner,  that  the  conversion,  of  heat  into  power 
is  measured.  Not  finding  any  instrument  delicate 
enough  to  do  this,  they  declare  for  independence.  It 
is  most  probable  that  thought  being  a  condition  is  not 
thus  measurable.  This  idea  of  independence  has  a 
parallel,  in  some  former  physiological  superstitions. 
For  example,  in  the  sixteenth  century  physiologists 
held  that  "the  blood  which  has  come  through  the 
septum  is  mixed  with  the  air  thus  drawn  in,"  (into 
the  left  ventricle  of  the  heart  from  the  lungs),  "and 
by  the  help  of  the  heat,  which  is  innate'  in  the  heart, 
which  was  placed  there  as  the  source  of  the  heat  of 
the  body,  by  God,  in  the  beginning  of  life,  and  which 
remains  there  until  death,  is  imbued  with  further  quali- 
ties, is  laden  with  'vital  spirits'  and  so  fitted  for  its 
higher  duties."  This  conception  of  an  "independ- 
ence," separate  from  the  physiological,  in  the  produc- 
tion of  thought,  is  not  quite  so  crude,  as  the  ignoring 
of  the  chemistry  of  heat,  and  considering  it  as  the 
direct  gift  of  God,  because  the  chemists  of  that  day 
had  no  "measurable"  evidence  that  oxidation  of  the 
blood  in  the  lungs  produced  the  heat  of  the  body.  But, 
the  ideas  of  "separate  independence  of  molecular  mo- 
tion and  psychical  phenomena"  is  only  less  apparent 
as  a  superstition,  than  the  former  is  now.  It  has 
always  been  that  unknown  causes  were  traced  to  a 
divine  power  by  the  majority  of  mankind.  Van-Hel- 
mont,  1577-1644,  held  that  "the  food  absorbed  from 
the  stomach  and  intestines  is,  in  the  liver,  endued  with 
natural  spirits,  and  in  the  brain,  the  vital  spirits  are 
transformed  into  animal  spirits."  The  various  "inde- 
pendent powers"  called  "spirits"  have  all  faded  away, 
as  the  true  knowledge  of  the  human  organism  came, 


162  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

by  the  senses,  to  the  intellect  of  man.  It  is  not  sur- 
prising that  such  ideas  were  evolved,  prior  to  the 
advance  lately  made  in  chemistry,  physiology,  biology, 
and  physics.  But  now,  when  the  indestructibility  of 
matter,  the  conservation  of  energy,  the  persistence  of 
force,  the  evolution  of  all  things,  are  so  well  established 
by  scientific  evidence,  it  seems  almost  incredible,  that 
an  able  author  of  physiology  and  psychology  can  con- 
tend for  independent  causes  for  any  of  the  activities 
of  the  human  organism.  Contrast  the  above  extracts 
with  the  following  extract  from  a  late  scientific  treatise 
on  physiology,  viz.,  "The  Nutrition  of  Man."  by  Rus- 
sell H.  Chittenden,  professor  of  physiological  chemis- 
try, in  Yale  University : 

"The  human  body  is  a  maelstrom  of  chemical 
changes;  chemical  decompositions  are  taking  place 
continuously,  at  the  expense  of  the  proteids,  fats,  and 
carbohydrates  of  the  tissues  of  the  food,  the  stored  up 
energy  of  these  organic  compounds,  being  thereby 
transformed  into  active,  or  'kinetic'  forms  of  heat 
and  motion;  while  carbon-dioxide,  water,  urea,  and 
some  few  other  nitrogenous  substances  are  being  con- 
tinually formed,  as  the  normal  -waste  products  of  these 
tissue  changes.  *  *  *  In  other  words,  the  body  is 
in  a  perpetual  condition  of  chemical  oscillation,  con- 
stantly consuming  its  own  substance,  rejecting  the 
waste  products  which  result,  and  giving  off  energy  in 
the  several  forms  characteristic  of  living  beings."  One 
of  the  forms  of  energy  characteristic  of  living  beings  is 
thought,  and  so  is  any  form  of  psychic  phenomenon, 
and  like  the  muscular  activities  of  the  body  are  caused 
by  the  chemical  activities  constantly  taking  place  in 
the  body. 

The  molecular  motion,  in  the  brain  tissue,  being  psy- 


MIND    IS    FUNCTION  163 

chical  phenomena,  both  must  be  recognized  as  the  same 
thing.  The  molecular  motion  is  the  psychical  phenom- 
ena. No  one  can  find  a  measurable  test,  scientifically, 
of  the  purely  psychical  phenomenon,  because  he  is  try- 
ing to  measure  something  that  does  not  exist,  in  a 
measurable  form.  But  while  the  evidence  cannot  be 
thus  reduced  to  the  same  scientific  basis,  as  mechanical 
motion ;  yet,  such  constant  connection,  between  such 
molecular  mechanics  of  the  nervous  structure,  and  the 
phychical  phenomena  of  the  organism,  made  up  largely 
of  such  structure,  seem  to  be  one  and  the  same  thing; 
just  as  molar  motion  is  the  attraction  of  gravitation. 
The  three  laws  of  Kepler  from  which  attraction  of 
gravitation  was  mathematically  derived,  are  descrip- 
tions of  the  observed  forms  which  such  motion  always 
takes.  That  motion  produces  the  harmony,  or  "men- 
tality" of  the  universe. 

"We  occasionally  meet  with  the  view,  that  in  the 
exact  natural  sciences,  nothing  shall  be  the  object  of 
investigation,  which  cannot  be  measured,  according  to 
mass  and  number.  This  conception,  destined  to  hinder 
the  development  of  scientific  knowledge,  as  the  first 
step  towards  the  explanation  of  many  phenomena,  can 
in  most  cases  only  be  made  by  qualitative,  and  not 
quantitative  investigation,  although  the  ideal  goal  is 
mathematical  demonstration  of  the  processes,  in  living 
organisms,  from  which  we  are  still  far  removed." 
(Max  Verworm.) 

There  are  very  many  mental  conceptions  in  the 
practical  affairs  of  men,  whose  boundaries  cannot  be 
measured  by  exact  mathematical  lines.  Lord  Macauley 
in  discussing  the  revolution  of  1688  in  England  said, 
"A  good  action  is  not  distinguished  from  a  bad  action 
by  marks  so  plain  as  those  which  distinguish  a  hexagon 


164  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

from  a  square.  There  is  a  frontier  where  virtue  and 
vice  fade  into  each  other.  Who  has  ever  been  able  to 
define  the  exact  boundary  between  courage  and  rash- 
ness, between  prudence  and  cowardice,  between  fru- 
gality and  avarice,  between  liberality  and  prodigality  ? ' ' 
This  is  so  because  the  extreme  mobility  of  our  nervous 
action,  and  the  intimate  meshes  of  its  conduction  paths, 
the  perpetual  motion  of  its  minute  particles,  make  the 
psychical  phenomena  so  blend  that  the  subject  fails  to 
perceive  the  true  line  of  demarcation.  They  cannot  be 
measured  mathematically.  So  it  is  with  our  conception 
of  the  unconscious  process  of  thinking.  It  eludes  the 
subtlest  mathematical  tests  because  the  measurements 
cannot  be  applied  to  the  material  substance  of  the  brain 
while  it  is  in  action,  as  it  can  to  muscular  tissue  in  a 
mere  reflex  action.  If  the  brain  is  simply  a  bundle  of 
nerves,  however,  to  convey  spirit,  as  copper  wire  carries 
electricity,  then  science  should  turn  its  attention  to  the 
study  of  "spirit,"  as  it  does  to  radio  activity.  But 
when  it  undertakes  to  do  that,  it  finds  nothing  but  a 
blank,  nothing  is  found  except  molecular  motion, 
accompanied  with  explosions  of  energy,  and  that  is 
measurable  as  such,  in  metabolism. 

The  division  of  the  human  organism  into  a  duality, 
physical  and  psychical,  and  the  treatment  of  the 
psychical,  in  the  last  few  pages,  as  the  product  of  evolu- 
tion, is  necessary  only  in  view  of  the  commonly 
accepted  theory  that  the  psychical  is  a  distinct  entity. 
But  it  is  entirely  unnecessary  to  the  monist,  who  holds 
that  the  organism  is  a  psycho-physical  unit,  the  psychic 
being  a  function  of  the  physical.  The  monist  holds  that 
the  proof  of  the  evolution  of  the  body  carries  with  it  the 
proof  of  the  evolution  of  all  the  manifestations  of  its 
structure. 


MIND    IS    FUNCTION  165 

ENERGY. — One  gramme  of  radium  produces  as  much 
energy  as  the  burning  of  one  ton  of  coal.  Where  does 
this  energy  emanate?  It  is  a  natural  element  existing 
throughout  the  universe.  Wherever  there  is  motion, 
some  of  this  energy  is  causing  it.  It  is  not  independent 
of  matter.  In  fact,  if  electricity  is  molecular  in  its 
composition,  then  it  is  matter.  All  matter  is  the  aggre- 
gation of  these  corpuscles  of  radium  and  electricity. 
The  brain  matter  is  only  a  differentiated  form  of  it. 
According  to  the  researches  of  Sir  J.  J.  Thompson, 
Rutherford,  Professor  Strutt,  Joly,  and  others,  ordinary 
matter  contains  immense  stores  of  energy,  and  when  by 
the  metabolic  process  in  the  human  brain  a  molecule 
is  disintegrated,  and  its  energy  is  released,  we  can  well 
believe  that  the  psychic  phenomenon  resulting  can  be 
attributed  to  this  cause  alone;  for,  if  at  any  time  an 
appreciable  fraction  of  the  energy  in  ordinary  matter, 
held  in  bounds  by  the  corpuscle,  were  to  get  free,  the 
earth  would  explode  and  become  a  gaseous  nebula. 
The  intense  energy  of  the  sun  does  the  work  of  the 
world,  and  all  the  psychic  phenomena  of  its  inhabitants. 
It  is  stored  up,  not  only  in  its  coal,  and  its  waterfalls, 
but  in  the  food  with  which  our  bodies  are  built  up  and 
sustained.  This  energy  of  the  sun  transferred  as  carbon 
to  the  vegetation,  is  transformed  into  the  atoms  of  the 
brain,  and  released  by  metabolism  into  all  its  activities. 
It  is  thrown  out  from  the  sun,  modified  by  our  atmos- 
phere, and  stored  in  the  soil  and  rocks  of  the  Solid 
body.  We  could  not  exist  without  all  the  mediums  of 
transference  of  energy,  our  bodies  and  brain  receiving 
their  life  through  the  chain,  and  eventually  giving  back, 
in  some  form,  either  physical  or  mental,  all  that  we 
receive.  So  that,  as  far  as  we  can  see,  there  is  going  on 
a  process  of  transference  of  energy  which  had  no  begin- 


166  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

nine:,  is  in  process  only,  never  finished,  and  therefore 
without  end.  This  is  what  intellect  discovers.  Now.  if 
there  is  any  " aurora"  around  intellect,  as  said  by  Burg- 
son,  that  can  by  any  method  be  utilized  to  disclose  that 
the  intellect  at  present  is  deluded,  and  that  the  eternal 
round  of  phenomena,  now  supposed,  can  have  a  further 
meaning,  then  let  us  strive  toward  such  achievement. 

RENEWAL  OF  TISSUE. — It  has  been  urged  by  a  paral- 
lelist  that  periodically  (one  has  said  every  two  years) 
a  new  brain  results  from  the  destruction  of  the  old 
cells  and  the  formation  of  new  cells.  Therefore,  how 
could  a  continually  renewed  brain  do  the  thinking? 
Because  a  movement  called  metabolism  is  constant  in 
the  body,  that  therefore  a  new  body  is  being  formed, 
and  that,  in  any  set  time,  a  new  organism  results, — 
different  in  function,  is  absurd.  The  multiplication  of 
cells,  by  which  the  body  is  formed,  is  a  division  of  the 
same  cell  handed  down  generation  after  generation  with 
its  mnemonic  quality,  which  makes  it  the  same,  in  every 
respect,  as  the  former  cell.  "It  is  a  continuation  of  the 
personality  of  every  ovum  in  the  chain  of  its  ancestry, 
which  ovum  it  actually  is.  quite  as  truly  as  the  octo- 
genarian is  the  same  identity,  with  the  ovum  from 
which  he  has  been  developed.  *  *  *  "We  therefore 
prove,  each  of  us.  to  be  actually  the  primordial  cell 
which  never  died,  nor  dies."  Butler's  "Life  and 
Habit,"  p.  86.  This  view  is  approved  by  W.  Bateson  in 
his  paper  in  "Darwin  and  Modern  Science.'  But  aside 
from  this,  the  common  sense  of  every  individual  teaches 
him  the  falsity  of  the  idea.  A  human  being  is  con- 
stantly aware  that  he  is  the  identical  organism,  at  80, 
or  at  any  moment  of  his  life,  that  he  was  at  the  first 
dawn  of  his  awaking  memory. 

The  brain  from  birth  to  death  is  made  up,  of  exactly 


MIND    IS    FUNCTION  167 

the  same  nerve  tissue,  formed  of  the  same  molecules, 
placed  exactly  the  same  way,  with  the  same  number  of 
cells,  all  composed  of  the  same  elements,  combined  in 
the  same  proportions.  Its  waste,  by  the  way  of  the 
venous  system,  and  renewal  by  the  arterial  blood,  is  a 
slow  and  continuous  process,  during  which  the  old  and 
new  atoms  are  constantly  in  physiological  contact  and 
accord.  The  molecular  motion  producing  the  images 
of  immediate  sensation,  and  associative  memory,  and 
the  coalescing  of  these  into  ideas,  is  a  continuous  pro- 
cess. Thus,  long  before  what  is  called  above  the  "new 
brain ' '  is  formed,  the  experience  of  an  old  brain  is  con- 
stantly renewed,  and  there  is  nothing  new  and  untried, 
or  unknown,  such  as  there  would  be,  if  every  two  years 
an  entirely  new  brain  was  manufactured  outright, 
from  new  material,  which  in  the  meantime,  never  had 
any  psychic  experience,  and  this  new  structure  mechan- 
ically put  into  the  skull,  after  the  old  one  had  been 
bodily  removed. 

We  know  that  human  consciousness  is  the  manifes- 
tation made,  apparently,  by  nerve  tissue  in  the  body,  of 
which  the  brain  is  the  largest,  and  most  complex  part. 
As  long  as  the  brain  is  active,  these  manifestations 
appear.  Did  any  one  ever  see,  or  hear,  or  feel  the 
manifestations,  except  in  connection  with  the  nerve 
structure?  Whatever  cells  arise  in  the  brain  are  iden- 
tical, in  structure  and  function,  with  the  ones  replaced, 
have  the  power  of  memory,  of  all  the  organism  has 
done  during  its  life,  the  same  reason;  in  short,  it  has 
every  identical  feature  of  the  cells  replaced,  each  new 
cell  being  really  the  old  cell,  not  a  chemical  substance 
even  being  changed,  in  the  least  particular.  They  act 
just  as  the  body  cells  do.  The  new  cells  keep  up  the 
peculiarities  of  the  body  shape,  the  physiognomy,  the 


168  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

complexion,  color  of  the  eyes  and  hair,  so  that  at  each 
moment  of  life  the  personality  is  the  same.  It  is  not  a 
process  of  cutting  out  an  old  cell  and  putting  in  a  new 
one  made  outside.  It  is  a  process  of  metabolism. 

THE  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. — Science  has  never  been 
able  to  discover  in  mental  phenomena  anything  but  the 
nerve  structure,  and  its  molecular  motion.  When  the 
molecular  motion  ceases,  there  is  no  consciousness.  Then, 
what  is  to  be  gained  by  assuming  that  there  is  some- 
thing not  apparent.  Until  there  is  something  else 
apparent,  it  is  logical  to  attribute  to  the  structure  and 
motion  the  resulting  psychical  manifestation. 

It  is  not  unthinkable  that  matter  and  motion,  in  the 
form  of  mobile  nervous  ganglia,  charged  with  such 
marvelous  energy,  can  directly  produce  the  thought  of 
mankind,  when  we  see  them  in  other  combinations  and 
relations,  produce  tints  of  changing  sunset,  the  rain- 
bow, the  solar  spectrum,  chemical  attraction,  the  at- 
traction of  gravitation,  and  the  evolution  of  all  forms, 
or  the  production  of  the  finest  music  by  the  "rasping  of 
the  hairs  of  a  horse's  tail,  on  the  intestines  of  a  cat." 
(Win.  James.) 

The  natural  phenomena  in  the  environment  referred 
to  above,  are  objective  phenomena,  that  existed  prior 
to  any  known  psychical  phenomena.  Their  connections 
with  their  real  causes  are  as  obscure,  as  are  those  of 
mental  phenomena,  with  their  real  causes.  They  are 
all  the  results  of  particular  combinations,  and  phases 
of  energy,  and  our  senses  never  perceive  them  except 
in  these  combinations.  Thought  is  the  reproduction 
of  them  by  sensations  and  images,  through  the 
physical  nervous  structure.  The  mind  is  a  spectrum 
of  objective  phenomena,  produced  by  sensations  com- 
ing through  the  eyes,  ears,  nose,  skin,  and  mouth,  and 


MIND    IS    FUNCTION  169 

what  is  called  self-feeling,  or  the  kinaesthetic.  There 
can  be  nothing  in  all  phenomena,  but  what  matter  and 
motion,  in  the  form  of  energy,  produces.  Feeling  is 
the  observation  of  the  effect  by  the  organism.  This  is 
consciousness,  or  awareness ;  or  a  relation  between  cer- 
tain objects,  the  number  being  limited  by  the  capacity, 
.for  impression,  of  the  neural  structure.  Or  conscious- 
ness is  the  power  of  choice  of  several  methods  or  paths. 
"No  state  of  consciousness  can  be  dissociated  from  its 
physical  conditions. ' '  It  does  not  appear  to  the  ordinary 
observer  that  the  energy  exhibited  by  the  daily  and 
nightly  phenomena  of  nature  could  be  naturally  pro- 
duced. Of  course,  mental  phenomena  are  still  more 
mysterious  to  him,  because  they  have  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent relation  to  him  from  those  in  the  inorganic  king- 
dom. But  after  scientists  adopted,  by  empirical  obser- 
vation, the  theory  that  atoms  are  mere  centers  of  cosmic 
energy,  the  same  that  runs  the  universe,  there  seems 
to  be  no  difficulty  in  neglecting  former  mysterious  cause 
for  these  effects;  an  angel,  for  instance,  at  each  star 
to  support  it  in  position,  was  not  a  necessary  assump- 
tion, after  the  discovery  of  the  attraction  of  gravitation. 
All  human  phenomena,  physical  or  psychical,  are  a 
part  of  natural  force,  called  cosmic  energy,  or  the  per- 
sistence of  force,  a  part  of  the  physical  universe,  the 
same  as  matter.  The  peculiar  phenomena  called  vital, 
and  those  vital  phenomena  called  psychical,  cannot  436 
separated  from  the  mental  conception  of  the  universal 
postulate.  They  are  natural,  and  governed  by  natural 
laws  only.  The  mind,  or  consciousness,  of  man,  is  im- 
possible without  the  neural  structure,  always  accom- 
panying it,  and  the  neural  structure  without  its  func- 
tion, or  without  its  genetic  correspondence  with  cosmic 
energy;  in  other  words,  without  its  excitation  by  the 


170  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

objective,  is  nothing  more  than  any  other  functionless 
matter,  it  is  inorganic. 

If  we  interpret  thought  as  a  molecular  process;  that 
is,  as  images  of  objectivity,  formed  by  the  psychical 
device,  we  get  rid  of  the  dualism  of  thought  and  object. 
This  is  "immediate  experience".  In  that,  the  object  is 
the  only  thing;  and  that  object  is  always  an  immediate 
reality;  it  is  a  phenomenon,  either  of  things  as  we 
"know"  them,  or  of  an  abnormal  differentiation  of  such 
things  in  the  diseased  brain.  In  other  words,  if  think- 
ing is  a  part  of  substance,  or  matter,  there  is  no  neces- 
sity to  discuss  it  as  existing  apart  from  substance  or 
objectivity.  The  brain  is  that  form  of  matter  which 
produces  what  we  distinguish  from  the  physical  form 
of  phenomena,  as  psychical,  and  its  correspondence 
with  other  forms  of  matter  is  analogous  to  the  rela- 
tions that  all  forms  of  matter  hold  to  each  other.  "The 
sciences  ultimately  refuse  to  recognize  dualism.  The 
world  is  only  intelligible  by  science,  on  the  assumption 
that  it  forms  one  coherent  system.  A  philosophy  based 
on  the  special  sciences  cannot  recognize  anything  out- 
side the  material  universe."  (David  G.  Ritchie).  This 
is  monism,  and  is  both  materialistic  and  idealistic.  Hux- 
ley has  shown  that  the  two  views  lead  scientifically  to 
the  same  conclusions. 

HUMAN  KNOWLEDGE. — Human  knowing  has  as  its 
essential  elements  two  forms  of  being,  or,  more  prop- 
erly, one  element  polarized  by  mental  analysis  into 
two  conditions,  viz.:  (1)  an  environment  composed 
entirely  of  phenomena,  which  are  manifestations  of  a 
creative  evolution;  and,  (2)  an  organism  controlled  by 
a  nervous  system  in  correspondence  with  and  responsive 
to  such  environment.  Both  elements  are  specialized 
parts  of  one  universe,  and  are  equally  phenomenal,  being 


MIND    IS    FUNCTION  171 

manifestations  of  cosmic  energy.  The  evolution  of 
forms  is  the  only  creative  force,  and  this  is  the  working 
over  dynamically  of  an  existing  limitation  of  energy, 
infinite  to  us,  but  to  us,  having  no  beginning  and  no 
end. 

That  phase  of  consciousness,  having  cognition,  is  the 
result  of  a  correspondence  between  the  nervous  centers 
and  an  environment  made  up  of  natural  phenomena, — 
including  psychical  facts  of  all  states  of  truth  or  false- 
hood. In  this  view,  knowledge  consists  of  pure  expe- 
rience, as  we  all  have  it,  from  day  to  day.  To  one 
individual,  it  may  be  largely  delusion  about  an  absolute. 
To  the  scientist  everything  would  appear  natural.  The 
forms  of  matter  visible  to  us  are  aggregates  of  certain 
attributes.  The  impressions  made  upon  our  brains  are 
phenomenal  only,  but  these  impressions  are  real  to  us. 
There  is  never  any  doubt  in  the  brain  of  the  individual 
as  to  the  reality  of  the  impression;  and  to  him  water, 
air,  earth,  fire,  are  real  things,  although  they  may 
appear  to  the  scientist  as  differentiated  forms  of  energy. 
To  the  ordinary  individual,  they  are  existences  objective 
to  his  perception,  and  without  this  existence  he  knows 
there  would  be  no  impression.  He  knows  also  that 
should  the  impressions  made  on  his  brain  by  these 
objective  things  cease,  it  would  be  the  result  not  of  the 
discontinuance  of  these  objective  forms,  but  his  own 
cessation  of  the  conditions  of  impressibility;  or,  in  other 
words,  a  change  in  his  own  form  which  dissociates  him 
from  objective  relationship.  Therefore,  the  contention 
of  the  idealists  that  there  is  nothing  but  impressions, 
is  not  the  common  sense  view.  These  impressions  or 
sensations  are  received  through  the  nervous  system 
from  those  objectives  into  the  organism,  and  ther>e 
co-ordinated  into  feelings.  Some  of  these  feelings  are 


172  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

again  co-ordinated  into  abstractions  and  generalizations 
by  higher  neural  centers.  The  aggregate  of  these  feel- 
ings is  called  the  mind.  Knowledge  is  the  psychical 
phase,  denoting  the  physiological  wealth  of  associated 
and  systematized  nervous  action  in  the  encephalon.  It 
is  the  culmination  of  sense  impressions,  acting  by  molec- 
ular and  chemical  motion,  through  the  nervous  struc- 
ture, upon  the  motor  centers  of  the  cerebrum.  We  must 
understand  that  the  resuJting  consciousness  is  of  only 
the  objective  thing  or  fact  or  problem.  As  remarked 
before,  late  experiments  and  investigations  tend  toward 
proving  that  the  functions  of  nerve  matter  and  those 
of  ordinary  muscular  tissue  are  in  no  way  different  in 
kind.  The  only  advantage  to  the  organism  the  nerve 
tissue  gives,  is  the  greater  rapidity  with  which  it  con- 
veys sensations  and  produces  responses  or  reactions 
It,  of  course,  gives  a  wider  and  completer  response  to 
complex  environment. 

MIND,  THE  PROPERTY  OP  ALL  ORGANISMS. — The  nerve 
tissue  in  the  human  individual  is  so  large  a  part  of  the 
organism,  that  its  activities  include  abstracting,  dis- 
criminating and  comparing  the  qualities,  and  the 
meaning  of  sensations  in  a  very  much  larger  degree 
than  in  any  of  the  lower  forms  of  life.  But  the  animal, 
with  or  without  nerves,  and  the  members  of  the  vege- 
table kingdom,  have  a  degree  of  "mind."  "The  hum- 
blest organism  is  conscious,  in  proportion  to  its  power 
to  move  freely."  (Bergson.) 

"I  know  of  no  test,  by  which,  the  reaction  of  the 
leaves  of  the  Sundew,  and  of  other  plants,  to  stimuli, 
so  fully  and  carefully  studied  by  Mr.  Darwin,  can  be 
distinguished  from  those  acts  of  contraction,  following 
upon  stimuli,  which  are  called  'reflex'  in  animals." 
(Huxley.) 


MIND    IS    FUNCTION  173 

Psychological  life  begins  with  living  protoplasm. 
The  pseudopodia,  therefore,  have  mind,  although  there 
is  no  trace  of  differentiated  nerve  structure.  In  this 
sense,  mind  is  coextensive  with  life.  Haeckel  says  it  is 
not  confined  even  to  the  organic.  The  original 
atoms,  that  make  up  the  entire  inorganic,  as  well  as 
organic  nature,  themselves  have  the  function  of  motion, 
attraction,  and  repulsion.  To  the  extent,  that  these 
atoms  respond  to  their  environment,  they  have  minds, 
and  knowledge.  In  short,  all  such  responsiveness, 
whether  we  call  it  attraction  of  gravitation,  chemical 
affinity,  molecular  motion,  or  physical  phenomena,  is, 
in  one  sense,  simply  mind  in  different  forms.  This  is 
the  doctrine  of  continuity  of  consciousness.  The  de- 
gree, or  intensity  of  it,  depends  upon  the  complexity  of 
the  aggregation  of  atoms  producing  the  responsive 
motion.  The  atoms  composing  oxygen,  when  they 
leave  their  combination  with  hydrogen,  and  rush  to 
embrace  the  atoms  composing  potassium,  so  impetu- 
ously as  to  produce  fire,  on  the  surface  of  water,  is  not 
a  conscious  process,  in  our  conception  of  human  con- 
sciousness, but  the  result, — the  phenomenon  of  incan- 
descence, and  the  formation  of  a  new  compound,  differ- 
ent from  either  of  its  constituent  elements, — is  clearly 
as  wonderful,  and  as  important,  as  the  movement  of 
similar  atoms  in  the  human  brain,  that  result  in  only 
muscular  motion,  or  what  is  called  "will  power."  The 
two  processes  do  not  differ,  in  being  the  interaction 
of  matter  and  motion ;  and  that  is  all  we  can  perceive 
mind  to  be.  In  only  a  less  degree  also,  these  chemical 
phenomena  in  the  inorganic  world,  have  their  subjec- 
tive, and  objective  phases.  If  there  did  not  exist,  in 
the  inorganic  world,  these  chemical  responses  to  the 
requirements  of  the  cosmic  movement,  chaos  would 


174  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

abide.  There  would  be  no  harmony  of  form  and  mo- 
tion anywhere.  The  astronomical  bodies  would  not  be 
formed,  and  therefore  life  as  we  now  see  it,  in  the 
multiplication  of  effects,  on  the  earth,  would  be  impos- 
sible. 

Units  of  inorganic  substance,  or  of  organic  com- 
pounds, combining  in  the  course  of  evolution,  or  dis- 
integrating in  the  process  of  dissolution,  appear  to 
know,  or  to  be  conscious,  to  that  degree,  of  the  proper 
motion  to  make  in  harmony  with  the  pending  phenome- 
non. Teleology  locates  the  consciousness  of  these 
movements  outside  of  units  of  substance.  But  that  is 
an  assumption,  not  justified  by  the  facts.  This  ''mind" 
in  atoms  is  their  subjective  side,  and  while  it  is  very 
limited  compared  with  our  conception  of  the  same  phase 
in  the  human  organism,  yet  we  are  compelled  to  recog- 
nize its  existence.  So,  it  is  intelligence  when  the  com- 
ponent parts  of  a  star,  brought  by  a  ray  of  its  light, 
pass  through  a  lens,  and  form  a  spectrum,  informing 
the  astronomer  of  the  composition,  and  conditions,  of 
a  far-off  sun.  These  star  components  do  this,  whether 
there  is  any  astronomer  to  interpret  them  or  not.  They 
did  it  millions  of  years  prior  to  the  birth  of  Praunhofer 
and  Kirchoff,  who  first  properly  conceived,  and  inter- 
preted their  meaning. 

The  term  "psychical"  has  been  limited  to  the  activi- 
ties of  the  human  nervous  system,  and  the  analogous 
phenomena  in  the  inorganic  are  termed  physical.  But 
the  cause,  and  the  effect,  in  both  activities,  are  similar. 
If,  at  the  moment  of  the  discovery  of  a  great  truth,  like 
the  attraction  of  gravitation,  in  the  brain  of  Newton, 
the  bony  covering  of  his  cerebrum  could  be  removed, 
and  the  most  powerful  microscope  applied  to  the  opera- 
tion going  on,  nothing  could  be  discovered,  but  the 


MIND    IS    FUNCTION  175 

isomeric  molecular  motion  of  the  units  of  matter  com- 
posing the  brain.  All  mental  phenomena,  however 
obscure,  and  however  valuable,  are  simply  the  product, 
so  far  as  experience  teaches,  of  the  interchange  of 
matter  and  motion,  going  on  in  the  nervous  structure 
of  the  body.  Particles  of  matter  therein  are  constantly 
disintegrating,  and  other  particles  forming  new  units. 
This  activity  accompanies  every  thought. 

"When  movement  ceases,  consciousness  dies  away." 
That  is  the  reason  why  parasites,  both  vegetable  and 
animal,  lose  their  power, — become  inert.  The  plant  is 
unconscious,  but  still  some  plants  approach  it  very 
close.  A  plant  shows  it  when  it  "bends  the  energy  of 
the  solar  light,  to  aid  it,  in  absorbing  the  carbon  away 
from  the  oxygen  in  carbonic  acid."  "The  same  im- 
petus that  has  led  the  animal  to  give  itself  nerves,  and 
nerve  centers,  must  have  ended  in  the  plant,  in  the 
chlorophylian  function."  (Bergson). 

The  more  rapid  and  intense'  the  mental  action,  the 
quicker  becomes  the  integration  and  disintegration  of 
the  molecules  of  the  nervous  system.  When  the  matter 
ceases  to  act,  the  differentiated  energy  called  mental 
process  stops.  No  one  has  ever  been  able  to  show  by 
induction  that  any  human  mental  phenomena  have 
been  produced,  except  in  the  neural  centers  of  the 
organisms,  following  and  seemingly  the  result  of 
physical  pulsations.  The  same  motion  of  molecules, 
precisely,  characterizes  every  chemical  phenomenon 
in  the  organic.  There  is  little  doubt  that  if  the  two 
movements  of  the  production  of  thought  in  the  brain; 
and  the  formation  of  a  crystal  in  inorganic  matter, 
could  be  minutely  compared  by  the  mieroscopist,  the 
only  methodological  difference  observable  would  be  in 
the  time  of  the  movements. 


176  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

There  is  no  apparent  line  of  demarcation  between 
the  physical  and  psychical,  as  there  is  none,  also,  be- 
tween matter  and  motion.  They  are  simply  different 
forms  of  cosmic  energy. 

The  mentality  of  living  bodies  below  man  is  not  dif- 
ferent in  kind,  but  in  degree.  If  it  were  possible  to 
dissect  the  nervous  systems  of  a  man,  and  of  a  lower 
animal,  and  exhibit  them  apart  from  the  body  upon 
manikins,  so  as  to  show  them  in  all  their  ramifications, 
just  as  they  lie  in  the  organisms,  they  would  show  by 
comparison  that  the  superior  mentality  of  man  results 
from  the  more  complete  and  perfectly  connected  network 
of  larger  nerves,  permeating  every  point  of  the  human 
body,  arid  all  connecting  in  the  larger  and  more  com- 
plex ganglion,  called  the  brain;  while  the  same  system 
in  lower  animals  is  less  complete  and  more  disconnected 
at  its  peripheral  and  other  terminations  less  complex, 
and  of  much  smaller  size  in  the  encephelon  compared 
with  the  size  of  the  body ;  that  the  nerves  and 
ganglionic  centers,  including  the  brain,  are  larger,  more 
copious  and  complex,  giving  them  higher  quality  just 
in  proportion  to  the  manifested  mentality  of  the  organ- 
ism. This  would  be  a  natural  and  effective  method  of 
teaching  psychology,  and  nerve  physiology,  if  it  were 
practicable. 

When  man  is  confronted  with  the  unknown  and  de- 
sires to  and  can  scientifically  make  it  known  to  him- 
self, his  method  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  animal.  He 
simply  makes  repeated  effort  until  he  finds  a  solution. 
This  refers  to  the  manner  of  procedure  only;  not  to  the 
immensely  larger  number  of  higher  problems  man  is 
capable  of  sohring,  of  which  the  lesser  mind  of  the 
animal  is  incapable.  The  difference  is  one  of  degree  only. 


CHAPTER  VII 

MIND  IS  FUNCTION 

Continued 

BERGSON  asserts  that  the  intelligence  of  man 
is  different  in  kind  from  the  instinct  of  the 
animal,  but  the  difference  seems  to  be  one 
of  quantity  and  quality  only,  man  having 
more  choices  of  method,  because  of  his  more  complex 
nerve  structure.  The  same  method  practically  is 
adopted  by  both  man  and  animal,  under  the  same  neces- 
sity, and  this  proves  the  homology  of  structure  and 
function.  That  is,  they  have  the  same  psychical  device 
for  accomplishing  their  necessities,  the  man's  being 
greater  in  power  and  complexity  only. 

"It  will  be  observed  that  Hume  appears  to  contrast 
the  'inference  of  the  animal'  with  the  'process  of  argu- 
ment, or  reasoning  in  man.'  But  it  would  be  a  com- 
plete misapprehension  of  his  intention,  if  we  were  to 
suppose  that  he  thereby  means  to  imply  that  there  is 
any  real  difference  between  the  two  processes.  The 
'inference  of  the  animal'  is  a  potential  belief  of  expec- 
tation ;  the  process  of  argument,  or  reasoning,  in  man 
is  based  upon  potential  beliefs  of  expectations,  which 
are  found  in  the  man,  exactly  in  the  same  way,  as  in 
the  animal.  But  in  man  endowed  with  speech,  the 
mental  state,  which  constitutes  the  potential  belief,  is 
represented  by  a  verbal  proposition,  and  thus  becomes 
what  all  the  world  recognizes  as  a  belief."  (Huxley.) 

Bergson  compares  consciousness  to  a  sharp  knife. 
"The  brain  is  the  sharp  edge  by  which  consciousness 
cuts  into  the  compact  tissue  of  events, -but  the  brain  is 
no  more  coextensive  with  consciousness,  than  the  edge 

177 


178 


is  with  the  knife."  This  would  be  understood  better, 
if  the  brain  were  comparable  with  the  knife,  and  con- 
sciousness with  the  sharp  edge.  The  edge  of  the  knife 
is  part  of  the  structure  of  the  blade.  It  is  not  anything 
different,  or  separate  from  the  material  of  the  blade. 
He  says,  "Thus,  from  the  fact  that  two  brains,  like 
that  of  the  ape  and  that  of  the  man,  are  very  much 
alike,  we  cannot  conclude,  that  the  corresponding  con- 
sciousness are  comparable,  or  commeasurable. "  The 
two  brains  are  alike  only  in  the  organic-chemical  com- 
position of  their  tissues,  but  they  are  very  much  unlike 
in  size,  shape,  and  especially  in  the  relative  sizes  of 
the  cerebrum,  compared  with  the  cerebellum.  They 
are  unlike  throughout  the  nervous  systems,  that  of 
man  being  very  much  more  complete.  The  ape,  as  far 
as  his  brain  can  give  him  choice,  as  far  as  it  can  give 
him  power  of  action,  does  things  just  as  man  does  them. 
That  is,  to  that  extent,  he  and  man  are  parallel,  in  con- 
sciousness. Therefore,  his  is  not  a  different  kind  of 
consciousness,  but  of  the  same  kind,  in  less  degree. 
When  man's  brain  evolved  beyond  that  of  the  ape's,  it 
did  not  take  on  a  new  kind  of  matter,  but  the  same 
kind,  in  larger  and  better  proportions.  This,  it  is,  that 
makes  man's  consciousness,  or  psychical  activity  so 
much  greater  in  degree  only,  than  that  of  the  ape. 
The  same  energy  that  gives  the  ape  his  life  and  mind 
is  derived  in  the  same  way  from  the  same  sources,  as 
that  of  man.  How  can  it  be  truthfully  said  then,  that 
the  "mind"  of  the  ape  is  different  in  kind  from  that 
of  man? 

There  is  little  doubt  but  that  at  one  period  of  man's 
evolution  he  did  things  just  as  the  animal  now  does, 
and  could  not  do  any  more  or  any  differently.  The  dif- 
ference between  him  now  and  then  is  an  evolution  of 


MIND    IS    FUNCTION  179 

the  same  structure  and  function  he  then  possessed,  not 
the  elimination  of  that  and  substitution  of  other  of  a 
different  kind.  All  life,  physical  and  psychical,  is  akin, 
because  it  is  evolved  from  the  same  material  without 
the  addition  or  subtraction  of  a  particle  of  its  essence 
or  miture  at  any  step  of  the  process.  That  is  the  reason 
why  structure  and  function  are  alike  in  kind  and  differ 
only  in  degree  in  all  animals. 

The  present  experiments  that  are  being  made  in  aerial 
navigation  show  very  clearly  the  parallel  working  of 
the  psychical  device  in  man  compared  with  the  same 
device  in  the  lower  animal,  when  they  are  both  confront- 
ed by  an  unknown  problem.  So  do  the  efforts  made  to 
reach  the  north  pole.  They  are  a  series  of  trials  and 
failures.  They  are  the  reactions  of  the  nervous  struc- 
ture to  an  objective  stimulus,  in  an  indefinite  inco- 
ordinate way.  The  induced  nerve  molecular  action  is 
without  any  former  experience  in  such  line  of  action, 
and  the  line  of  least  resistance  for  such  response  is  not 
yet  found.  Like  the  baby  learning  to  walk,  such  experi- 
ments are  very  hard  work  at  first,  but  with  the 
prospective  result  that  eventually  they  will  become  as 
automatic  as  the  flying  of  the  bird. 

Consider  further  the  comparative  daily  life  of  man. 
and  that  of  the  animal  with  reference  to  their  being 
alike  in  kind.  Men  seem  to  have  done  and  are  now 
doing  instinctively  those  things  that  are  concrete,  and 
are  not  beyond  their  capacity.  The  great  bulk  of 
organized  society  confine  themselves  to  agriculture, 
commerce,  manufacturing — to  money  making  in 
general.  All  these  pursuits  have  reference  to  the  sup- 
port, housing  and  adornment  of  the  body,  and  require 
a  less  amount  of  brain  energy  than  purely  intellectual 
work,  such  as  biology  astronomy,  geology,  and  evolu- 


180  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

tion.  That  is,  the  great  majority  of  the  people  are 
spending  their  lives  in  doing  in  a  little  higher  degree 
just  what  the  lower  animals  are  doing  in  a  less  degree. 

An  animal 's  existence  in  the  wild  state  is  a  struggle ; 
that  is,  an  effort  for  existence  only.  If  he  can  get 
enough  to  eat.  and  defend  himself  from  his  enemies, 
that  is  the  sum  total  of  his  life.  That  is  the  business  to 
which  he  devotes  his  mind.  The  man  who  gives  himself 
up  to  industry  or  business  does  practically  the  same 
thing.  His  brain,  of  course,  is  very  far  superior  to  that 
of  the  animal's.  But  that  extra  brain,  the  difference 
in  nerve  structure  between  him  and  the  animal,  he 
devotes  as  a  rule  to  higher  quality  of  struggle,  for 
higher  physical  existence  only;  the  animal  hunts  and 
grazes,  if  a  carnivora,  he  captures  his  prey;  the  man 
cultivates  the  ground  for  his  vegetable  sustentation, 
and  selects  his  animal  food  by  domestication.  The 
animal  wears  the  dress  that  grows  upon  his  skin;  the 
man  selects  his  material  and  manufactures  clothing. 
The  man  makes  a  fire,  and  cooks  his  food;  the  animal 
eats  his  raw.  The  animal  as  a  rule  (there  being  some 
exceptions),  dwells  and  sleeps  in  the  places  he  finds  at 
hand  without  any  contrivance  or  mechanism  on  his 
part;  man  builds  himself  houses  of  some  kind  in  which 
to  live,  with  artificial  tools.  The  animal  uses  only  the 
tools  nature  has  given  him.  Man  makes  tools  from  the 
inorganic  substances,  which  do  his  work  in  a  variety 
of  ways.  The  rlonkey,  given  his  head,  finds  water  in 
the  desert  that  his  intelligent  driver  cannot  find;  but 
the  former  is  unable  to  construct  a  pouch  by  which 
water  can  be  carried  on  the  journey.  Instinct  is  con- 
fined to  one  line  of  action,  but  intelligence  can  choose 
from  many. 

The  animal  changes  localities  on  foot,  or  wing,  or  by 


MIND    IS    FUNCTION  181 

swimming;  man  subdues  beasts  of  burden,  builds  ve- 
hicles, utilizes  the  natural  power  of  heat,  or  electricity, 
to  carry  himself,  his  food,  and  clothing  from  place  to 
place.  These  differences  in  the  methods  of  bipeds  and 
quadrupeds  are  largely  the  result  of  man's  acquired 
erect  position,  and  his  acquired  intelligence.  This  posi- 
tion modified  the  anatomy  and  physiology  of  the  whole 
human  organism.  The  arms  became  shorter  and  un- 
adapted  to  an  arboreal  life.  The  hands  retained  their 
prehensile  power,  but  the  feet  lost  their  power  of 
grasping  the  limbs  of  trees.  The  feet  gradually  flat- 
tened on  the  soles,  and  calves  developed  on  the  lower 
legs,  adapting  them  to  support,  and  steady,  the  body 
in  the  upright  position.  These  changes  contributed  to 
the  better  defense  from  enemies,  and  the  power  to  cap- 
ture other  animals  for  food,  by  throwing  a  missile  with 
steadier  and  surer  aim. 

The  upright  position,  also,  gives  a  longer  reach  to 
vision,  and  must  have  modified  the  anatomy  and  hence 
the  physiology  of  the  lungs  and  throat.  It  is  reason- 
able to  suppose,  it  made  possible  articulate  speech.  The 
anatomist  should  be  able  to  vertify  this  anatomically. 
But  it  is  scarcely  possible,  that  if  man  had  continued, 
to  the  present  time  a  quadruped,  he  could  have  acquired 
the  function  of  articulation  of  words,  in  the  way  words 
are  now  used.  The  modifications  that  took  place,  in 
the  anatomy  of  the  human  being,  after  he  assumed 
the  upright  position,  by  the  laws  of  equilibration, 
reached  the  anatomy,  and  through  that  the  function, 
of  every  organ,  and  every  part  of  the  body.  The 
muscles  of  the  throat  and  neck  must  have  been  modi- 
fied profoundly,  because  the  forelegs,  which  by  the 
erect  position  became  the  arms,  are  attached  to  the 
body  so  near  the  neck.  It  is  most  probable,  that  the 


182  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

modifications,  that  eventually  occurred  in  the  throat 
and  lungs,  were  followed  later  on  by  the  power  of 
articulation,  which  prior  to  such  changes  was  not 
possible.  The  freeing  of  his  hands  from  mere  aids  to 
locomotion  has,  also,  enabled  him  to  contrive  and  con- 
struct. Indeed,  man  first  appeared,  when  a  tool  lay 
beside  the  fire,  he  had  built.  With  this  tool,  or  a  modi- 
fication of  it,  he  has  carved  his  way  to  be  monarch  of 
all  he  surveys.  The  animal,  on  the  contrary,  has  never 
invented,  nor  used  tool,  or  fire.  It  works  only  with 
the  natural  organs  born  with  him.  He  therefore  can- 
not compete  with  man  physically,  or  mentally,  but 
originally  and  organically,  there  was  no  difference  of 
kind  in  their  instincts ;  but  when  man  stood  erect,  and 
began  to  use  fire  and  tools,  intelligence  was  added  to 
instinct,  by  an  enlargement  of  the  cerebrum,  and  the 
multiplications  of  its  nerve  connections  in  the  body. 
He  then  began  to  choose  new  ways  of  fighting  the 
natural  forces,  which  before  had  kept  him  down,  and 
which  now  keep  the  lower  orders  in  the  mental  stagna- 
tion, now  characteristic  of  them.  But,  this  was  not 
accomplished  by  the  addition  of  matter  of  a  different 
kind  to  that  which  prior  to  that  human  function,  he 
already  possessed.  Instinct  is  confined  to  one  way  of 
doing  things.  Intelligence  chooses  from  several  ways 
open  to  it.  The  bird,  the  ant  and  the  bee  repeat,  for 
all  time,  the  pattern  house  and  nest,  and  never  rise  to 
invention.  They  build  as  well,  if  not  better,  than  man 
at  first  did,  when  instinct  alone  bound  him  down  to 
use  only  the  tools  that  nature  gave  him.  But  a  genuine 
departure,  a  separation  began,  when  fire  and  tool  mak- 
ing, reacting  on  the  brain  of  man,  started  him  on  the 
road  to  invention  and  choice.  Certain  instincts  re- 
mained with  him,  and  by  long  use  certain  habits,  like 


MIND    IS   FUNCTION  183 

walking  and  language,  became  automatic,  and  there- 
fore instinctive,  in  his  matured  form,  but  it  has  taken 
ages  to  bring  about  this  change.  At  first,  intelligence 
was  not  equal  to  instinct  in  accomplishment.  Instinct 
was  quicker  and  more  certain.  But,  intellect's  potential 
achievements  Avere  infinitely  greater  than  those  of  in- 
stinct. The  animals,  controlled  by  instinct,  were  better 
housed,  and  perhaps  better  fed,  than  man.  But,  when 
men's  arms  were  freed  from  mere  locomotion,  and  free 
choice  given  him  by  the  birth  of  intelligence  and  rea- 
son, then  he  advanced,  while  the  animals,  possessing 
only  instinct,  remained  in  the  mental  condition  they 
now  are.  When  a  man  slaughters  a  hog,  carefully 
cutting  it  up  into  appropriate  pieces,  salts  them  down 
in  a  barrel,  made  by  his  own  hands,  to  prevent  the 
meat  from  putrefaction,  we  call  that  reason,  because 
it  is  a  process  that  provides  him  and'  his  family  with 
sustentation,  at  a  future  time.  But  when  a  wasp  stings 
its  victim  on  just  those  joints  where  the  nerve  centers 
lie,  and  thus  paralyzes  the  victim's  power  of  motion, 
without  killing  it,  and  stores  its  body  away  for  the 
wasp's  future  sustentation,  we  call  that  instinct,  al- 
though the  operation  shows  the  wasp  to  be  a  learned 
anatomist,  and  a  skillful  surgeon.  This  example 
of  the  instinctive  intelligence  of  the  wasp  could 
be  repeated  of  other  animals  of  the  lower  orders 
many  times.  When  a  bald  hornet  catches  a  house  fly. 
it  immediately  cuts  off  its  wings  to  prevent  its  escape. 
These  parallel  similar  actions  of  man,  with  this  differ- 
ence ;  the  surgical  instruments  of  the  wasp  and  hornet 
are  made  for  them  organically,  as  are  all  the  tools  of 
the  lower  animals,  with  which  they  work ;  but  man 
makes  his  own  tools  from  inorganic  substances,  with 
which  he  operates,  and  when  he  kills  and  preserves  his 


184  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

meat,  he  can  build  a  fire  and  cook  it.  These  differ- 
ences in  action  measure  the  difference  in  degree  of 
power  between  the  nervous  systems.  Instinct  stops 
with  its  operations  on  things,  it  has  no  variety  of  doing 
the  same  thing.  It  has  but  one  mode,  or  choice,  and 
continues  that  method  without  variation.  It  is  the 
reaction  of  a  brain  in  which  no  new  short  cuts  are 
formed  by  repeated  effort.  But  intelligence  seeks  out 
many  methods,  and  is  constantly  storing  up  discrimina- 
tions between  relations,  and  records,  in  written  lan- 
guage, its  discoveries.  Instinct  cannot  follow  it  in  these 
achievements,  and  is  helpless  before  the  power  of  intel- 
ligence in  its  ultimate  use  of  the  forces  of  materiality, 
to  subdue  all  lower  organisms.  Bergson  says :  ' '  Instinct 
operates  upon  life,  and  intelligence  on  things."  But  he 
is  in  the  habit  of  using  terms  in  a  metaphysical  sense, 
as  if  the  terms  instinct,  and  intelligence,  were  person- 
alities directing  and  planning  the  coi-stant  phenomena 
of  life.  For  instance,  he  says:  "The  same  instinct  had 
gone  on  complicating  itself  more  and  more  in  one  direc- 
tion, and  along  a  straight  line,  etc."  He  holds  that 
instincts  have  not  been  acquired  through  inherited 
habits  of  millions  of  generations,  and  retained  by 
natural  selection,  as  instincts.  He  says,  "there  is  no 
need  of  such  a  view  if  we  suppose  a  sympathy  (in  the 
etymological  sense  of  the  word)  between  the  Ammo- 
phila  and  its  victim,  which  teaches  it  from  within,  so 
to  say,  concerning  the  vulnerability  of  the  caterpillar. ' ' 
Max  Meyer  would  account  for  this  by  nervous  reflex  as 
the  cause  within.  It  is  to  be  presumed  that  each  phil- 
osopher expresses  in  such  statements  his  own  mental 
make-up,  or  tendency.  Bergson  is  an  idealist,  and 
Meyer  is  a  materialist  by  nature,  and  those  who  adopt 
one  view,  or  the  other  may  be  classified  by  the  tenden- 


MIND    IS   FUNCTION  185 

cies  of  their  brains,  and  the  necessities  of  their  think- 
ing, in  the  class  to  which  they  belong.  But  ''sym- 
pathy" is  not  as  plausible  an  hypothesis  as  that  of  orig- 
inal use  of  his  (the  Ammophila's)  sting  until  he  found 
the  correct  places,  and  in  course  of  time,  the  habit 
became  hereditary,  as  an  instinct.  Bergson  admits 
that  science  treats  instincts  as  at  first  intelligent  action, 
afterwards  reduced  to  automatism,  and  could  not  treat 
them  in  any  other  view,  but  that  science  seems  to  ex- 
pect philosophy  to  adopt  another  view,  viz.,  from  the 
inside  of  life  itself,  and  make  everything  connected 
with  life  an  impetus  from  within.  That  is  transcen- 
dentalism, and  gives  greater  importance  to  intuition 
than  to  induction.  The  philosophy  that  ignores,  or 
goes  beyond,  the  induction  of  science,  has  none  of  the 
sensory  evidence,  that  is  the  criterion  of  truth. 

Bergson  again  says:  "Instinct  is  sympathy.  If  this 
sympathy  could  extend  its  object  and  also  reflect  upon 
itself,  it  would  give  us  the  key  to  vital  operations, — 
just  as  intelligence,  developed  and  disciplined,  guides 
us  into  matter."  It  is  more  likely  that  instinct  is  ex- 
perience become  automatic  by  very  long  usage,  and 
that  it  is  limited  by  that  origin  to  just  what  it  does — 
that  it  is  altogether  incapable  of  more  than  the  primi- 
tive service  it  now  makes  to  the  support  of  life.  In- 
telligence, also,  is  limited  to  the  fabrications  of 
matter,  in  the  support  of  life,  and  the  enlarging  of 
life 's  functions.  Neither  it,  nor  instinct,  will  ever  give 
us  the  true  key  to  life  processes,  or  rather  to  the  origin 
and  meaning  of  life.  Science,  which  is  the  highest 
form  of  intelligence,  will  greatly  extend  its  achieve- 
ments, but  not  behind  phenomena,  except  to  implant 
in  our  brains  certain  inferences  that  will  be  of  no 
practical  benefit. 


186  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

It  is  suggested  that  biologists  know  the  morphologi- 
cal forms  of  development,  but  fail  to  see  the  chemical 
phenomena  connected  therewith.  In  other  words,  they 
fail  to  see  and  act  upon  more  than  matter.  The  real 
movement  of  life  development  is  beyond  the  reach  of 
intellect,  and  unless  this  is  disclosed,  there  will  always 
be  something  left  to  conjecture.  But  matter  always 
intervenes  to  bar  the  penetration  of  the  human  senses, 
beneath  the  integration,  and  dissipation  of  itself. 
Some  other  light  beyond  the  X-ray  may  yet  be  dis- 
covered whose  penetrating  power  will  disclose,  not 
only  the  chemical,  as  well  as  the  geometrical  phe- 
nomena of  life,  but  also  streams  of  becoming,  and  the 
reason  why  nothing  is  ever  finished,  the  reason  why 
everything  always  remains  in  the  making. 

Man  gradually  acquired  the  power  to  record  with 
his  free  hands  a  written  language  to  represent  the 
sounds  of  his  voice,  and  the  images  made  upon  his 
brain  by  objective  things,  by  which  any  advance  in  the 
methods  of  the  struggle  for  existence  can  be  per- 
manently communicated  to  his  fellow  men,  not  only  to 
his  own  generation,  but  to  those  of  the  future.  The 
result  has  been,  that  in  addition  to  the  former  com- 
munication of  new  ideas  and  facts  by  direct  contact 
and  personal  observation,  distant  peoples  are  rapidly 
informed  by  books,  and  periodicals  of  all  new  methods, 
and  discoveries.  The  art  of  printing  has  thus  given 
an  immense  impetus  to  man's  efforts  over  those  of  the 
animal  in  the  struggle  for  existence  But  notwith- 
standing all  this,  it  is  well  to  observe,  that  the  men  who 
use  all  these  advantages,  that  man's  enlarged  brain 
power  has  given  him,  over  the  -wild  animals,  who  still 
use  the  primitive  means  of  existence,  for  the  mere 
support  of  the  body,  are  still  on  a  level  only  with  the 


MIND    IS   FUNCTION  187 

animal  in  the  objects  of  his  life.  They  accomplish  the 
same  object,  only  in  a  human  and  more  complex  way. 
The  human  way  of  sustenance,  housing  and  clothing,  is 
better  in  quality  only.  It  has  a  better  effect  in  pro- 
longing life. 

Man's  advancement  and  civilization  are  almost  liter- 
ally carved  out  of  matter,  in  mechanisms  that  serve  his 
needs  physically.  There  has  arisen,  from  this  charac- 
teristic, his  mental  habit  of  analyzing  the  psychical, 
as  a  mechanism,  and  treating  nature  and  evolution,  in 
the  same  way.  He  is  not  a  spiritual  being.  Ideality 
and  metaphysics,  except  as  mechanisms,  do  not  appeal 
to  him. 

MIND,  THE  AGGREGATION  OF  FEELINGS. — As  many  sen- 
sations received  by  the  organism,  do  not  reach  the 
highest  and  largest  ganglion  of  the  nervous  system, 
the  encephalon,  but  are  co-ordinated  by  the  smaller 
ganglia,  located  in  the  various  parts  of  the  body,  it 
follows  that  the  popular  idea  that  the  brain  is  the  sole 
seat  of  the  mind,  is  erroneous.  The  cerebrum  is,  how- 
ever, the  seat  of  what  is  known  as  intellectuality. 

Every  obvious  feature,  of  the  organism,  is  some  ex- 
pression of  the  mentality,  or  character  of  the  indi- 
vidual. And,  therefore,  to  a  certain  degree,  there  is 
an  adumbration  of  truth  in  the  claims  of  the  various 
advocates  of  special  localizations,  that  the  shape  of  the 
head,  the  physiognomy,  the  palm  of  the  hand,  the 
hand  writing,  the  voice,  the  walk,  all  show  character. 
But  the  interpretation  lies  in  the  combination  of  all 
external  peculiarities  of  the  body. 

Phrenology  assumed  too  strict  a  localization  of 
mental  function  in  the  cerebral  centers.  Every  psy- 
chical phenomenon  is  not  only  the  result  of  the  sensory 
excitation  of  its  appropriate  brain  center,  but  is  con- 


188  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

tributed  to  by  other  centers  connected  by  cross  asso- 
ciate conduction  paths.  If  the  appropriate  sensory 
center  becomes,  more  or  less,  abrogated  from  any 
cause,  other  centers,  in  time,  vicariously  assume,  and 
perform  its  function  through  their  cross  paths. 

THE  OBJECTIVE  AND  SUBJECTIVE. — By  bearing  in 
mind,  that  the  before  mentioned  definition  of  knowl- 
edge gives  it  two  essential  coexistent,  or  sequent 
parts,  which  might  be  called  obverse  and  reverse  side, 
or  better  still,  scientifically,  the  objective  and  subjec- 
tive; the  absence  of  either  of  these  essentials  accounts 
for  the  unknown,  while  the  two,  acting  normally, 
psychologically  together,  constitute  the  known.  It  is 
obvious  that  if  the  first  essential  is  absent,  namely, 
the  objective,  there  can  be  no  knowledge.  "What- 
ever it  is  possible  to  take  interest  in,  whatever  it  is 
possible  to  describe,  whatever  it  is  possible  in  any  way 
to  apprehend,  or  think  about,  to  remember,  recog- 
nize, forget,  consciously  identify,  anticipate,  intend,  or 
mean — such  thing  is  a  mental  object."  (James  Mark 
Baldwin.)  So  the  absence  of  the  second  element,  which 
may  be  defined,  as  the  co-ordinating  process  occurring 
in  the  encephalon,  in  its  correspondence,  between  the 
internal  nervous  centers,  and  the  external  relation  of 
things  in  the  environment,  (meaning  by  the  eviron- 
ment,  all  causes  of  sensation),  would  surely  result  in 
•want  of  knowledge.  The  subjective  is  really  the 
molecular  motion  of  the  structure  in  the  brain  that  re- 
ceives the  sensations,  and  co-ordinates  them  into  ideas. 
There  is  no  way  to  examine  it  empirically,  while  the 
process  is  going  on.  and  if  that  could  be  done,  it  is 
more  than  probable  that  all  that  could  be  discerned, 
would  be  physical  motion  of  the  molecules,  resulting 
in  more  or  less  decomposition  and  releasing  stored-up 


MIND   IS   FUNCTION  189 

energy.  Could  observation  of  the  molecular  motion  of 
the  brain  molecules  be  made,  in  such  way  as  to  show 
the  forms  and  directions  accompanying  each  psychical 
explosion,  (mental  phenomenon),  the  laws  of  the  latter 
might  be  formulated  therefrom,  in  the  same  manner 
that  Kepler  formulated  his  laws  of  planetary  motion, 
from  the  molar  motion  of  the  planets.  But  it  is  plain 
that  such  observations  are  not  practical.  They  are  not 
practical  for  another  reason.  That  is,  that  the  images 
are  so  evanescent,  and  numerous,  that  man  could 
hardly  frame  a  law  of  their  movements.  Notwith- 
standing this  fact,  it  is  a  mere  arbitrary  assumption  to 
contend  there  is  anything  more  in  mentality  than 
molecular  motion,  or  metabolism.  It  is  a  motion  which 
releases  stored  up  energy,  which  is  changed  from  a 
passive  state  to  a  psychical  or  dynamic  force.  For 
example,  the  want  of  this  power  of  co-ordination  in 
the  brain  o-f  man,  prior  to  the  discoveries  of  Copernicus, 
kept  men  in  ignorance  of  the  true  motions  of  the 
stellar  bodies.  The  objective  fact  existed,  but  not  the 
subjective  correlative  molecular  motion  of  brain 
structure.  The  true  image  was  not  formed  on  the 
brain.  Any  knowledge  is  simply,  and  only  a  true 
image  of  the  phenomenon.  Therefore  there  could  be 
no  correspondence  between  the  people,  of  the  time 
before  Copernicus,  and  stellar  laws.  The  channels  of 
this  correspondence,  in  higher  animals,  are  the  five 
senses  of  sight,  touch,  hearing,  tasting,  and  smelling. 
"Nothing  is  in  our  mind  which  has  not  been  before  in 
our  senses"  is  an  old  and  true  saying. 

MIND  MAKING. — This  correspondence  of  the  exterior, 
with  the  internal  nerve  centers,  is  the  process  of 
mind-making  in  its  simplest  terms  in  the  new-born 
infant.  The  infant,  at  birth,  possesses  the  potential 


190  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

neural  structure  essential  to  this  correspondence;  but 
has  no  knowledge,  until  experience  establishes  certain 
relations  of  space,  time,  quantity,  and  quality,  from 
which  the  present  sensation  can  summon  images  of 
memory.  By  the  fusion  of  the  two  images,  a  true  one 
is  obtained.  That  is  knowledge. 

These  experiences  are  the  rearrangement  of  the 
molecules  of  certain  centers  of  the  brain  which  pro- 
duces the  conception.  This  complex  movement  of 
structure  constitutes  the  idea,  and  the  latter  passes 
away,  when  the  pattern  of  moving  molecules  is  trans- 
formed to  other  patterns.  The  recurrence  of  the  same 
idea  is  the  reformation  of  the  same  pattern  on  the  tissue 
of  the  brain. 

Of  course,  the  process  of  the  evolution  of  intellect, 
or  abstract  generalization  in  man,  is  extremely  complex 
and  involved.  This  comes  only  with  years  of  experi- 
ence, and  the  formation  of  new  and  higher  reflex  arcs, 
in  the  brain.  It  is  not  the  function  of  the  brain  to 
"store  up"  ideas  or  sensations.  But  a  stimulation, 
often  repeated,  changes  the  more  stable  molecules  of 
the  nerve  cells,  to  less  stable  ones,  and  thus  increases 
the  potential  work, — the  accumulation  of  what  we  call 
psychical  processes.  When  this  potential  accumula- 
tion is  released  into  actual  work,  the  product  is  the 
more  stable  molecules,  and  the  psychical  phenomena 
are  called,  e.  g.,  memory,  or  imagination,  etc.  Thus, 
there  is  always  going  on  in  the  nerve  structure,  a 
change  of  the  chemical  composition  of  molecules  re- 
sulting in  either  potential,  or  actual  work.  These 
physiological  functions  are  the  psychical  phenomena  of 
thought  and  feeling.  Herbert  Spencer  says:  "An 
idea  is  the  psychical  side  of  what,  on  its  physical  side, 
is  an  involved  set  of  nervous  plexuses.  That  which 


MIND    IS    FUNCTION  191 

makes  possible  the  idea,  is  the  pre-existence  of  these 
plexuses,  so  organized  that  a  wave  of  molecular  motion, 
diffused  through  them,  will  produce  its  psychical  cor- 
relative, the  components  of  the  conception,  in  due 
order  and  degree. ' '  So  that,  it  follows,  that  the  differ- 
ence in  ideas,  expressed  by  different  organisms,  de- 
pends upon  the  organic  structure  of  the  nervous  sys- 
tems, and  not  upon  a  separate  and  distinct  mental 
entity,  that  may  be  supposed  to  exist  within  the  body 
of  each.  Mind  is  a  condition,  not  a  thing.  "Psychi- 
cal" means  the  effect  produced  in  the  motion  of  mole- 
cules of  nerve  tissue  in  the  body,  in  response  to  some 
incidence  of  force  from  without,  such  as1  light,  heat, 
sound,  etc. 

The  sensations  received  through  the  sense  organs 
from  the  objective,  are  the  primary  sources  of  all 
knowledge  and  mental  development.  But  before  there 
can  be  knowledge  there  must  be  hereditary  structure 
in  the  organism,  whose  function  is  the  co-ordination  of 
these  sensations,  into  what  we  call  knowledge.  The 
quality,  and  scope,  of  the  knowledge  depends  upon  the 
neural  connections  of  the  reflex  arcs,  or  associative 
cross  fibres  over  which  the  sensation  may  pass  and  their 
power  thus  to  arouse  dormant  images  into  memory, 
reason,  will,  etc.  The  quality,  and  within  limits,  the 
quantity  of  the  structure  determines  the  limitations. 
It  may  with  truth  be  said,  that  the  real  difference  be- 
tween the  mind  of  Shakespeare,  for  example,  and  the 
lowest  man,  lies  not  in  education,  in  the  schools,  but 
simply  in  the  difference  between  the  structure,  and 
quality,  of  their  nervous  systems.  Of  course  education 
in  schools  is  of  very  great  importance,  in  giving  the 
growing  organism  experience  of  the  highest  value  in 
the  future  interpretation  of  the  problems,  always 


192  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

presenting  themselves  for  solution  in  life.  It  forms 
new  molecular  routes  in  the  brain,  and  thus  gives 
greater  power.  It  throws  out  nervous  short  cuts  to 
other  sense  centers,  in  proportion  to  the  pertinence  of 
the  education  received.  But,  unless  the  brain  struc- 
ture exists,  or  is  thus  formed,  there  can  be  no  educa- 
tion; and  the  degree  of  its  efficacy  depends  upon  the 
quality,  and  power,  of  the  structure,  either  inherited, 
or  induced  by  education.  In  walking,  every  .one  has 
a  stride  peculiar  to  himself,  and  wears  his  shoes,  at 
certain  places  on  the  soles,  different  from  other  walk- 
ers. What  causes  these  peculiar  differences?  It  is  the 
anatomy  of  the  bones  and  muscles  of  the  legs  peculiar 
to  each.  On  account  of  this  anatomy,  it  is  impossible 
for  each  to  walk  in  any  other  manner.  The  physiology 
of  the  organism  in  every  part  depends,  in  the  same  way, 
upon  the  structure.  The  outer  expressions,  in  the  body 
movements,  are  all  determined  by  the  anatomical 
structure,  so  are  the  outer  expressions  of  the  nerve 
physiology  determined  by  the  ganglionic  neural  struc- 
ture. They  are  predetermined,  by  the  anatomy,  and 
the  personal  differences,  of  individuals.  Both  the 
physical,  and  psychical  expression  have  for  their  basis 
the  variations  in  personal  anatomy.  The  differences 
in  the  anatomy  of  the  bones  and  muscles,  and  the  con- 
sequent variations  of  their  outer  expression,  are  much 
more  apparent  to  the  senses,  than  are  those  of  the 
nervous  system.  But  the  same  law,  of  interaction  of 
structure,  and  function,  governs  both ;  although  the 
subtlety,  and  its  location  in  the  body  beyond  ordinary 
observation  while  life  lasts,  make  it  appear,  to  the  in- 
different observer,  to  be  predetermined  by  a  different 
law.  In  principle  there  is  no  difference  between  the 
equilibration  of  structure  and  function  of  both. 


MIND    IS   FUNCTION  193 

HELEN  KELLER. — Why  Helen  Keller  has  succeeded 
in  knowing  the  relation  of  so  many  objective  phe- 
nomena, through  the  sense  of  touch,  almost  alone,  is 
that  she  was  born  with  a  finely  organized  nervous 
structure  adapted  to  all  five  senses,  which  responded, 
by  the  associative  brain  centers,  to  sensations  of  touch. 
The  auditory  and  optical  centers  existed  in  her  brain 
the  same  as  in  the  brains  of  those  who  have  these 
peripheral  sense  organs.  While  these  centers  are  not 
excited  in  the  same  way  they  would  be  by  normal  eyes 
and  ears ;  yet  they  are  not  dormant  by  any  means,  in 
producing,  by  association,  very  much  of  the  activity  of 
her  consciousness, — her  correspondence  with  environ- 
ment. Her  visual  brain  center  is  excited,  not  by  sight, 
but  by  touch,  and  thus  she  has  a  mental  vision.  It 
would  have  been  very  different  had  she  been  without 
the  neural  brain  centers  of  sight  and  hearing.  She 
is  wanting  only  in  the  functioning  of  these  peripheral 
sense  organs,  not  in  the  brain  centers  of  them.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  her  education  consisted,  in  the  ganglia 
of  the  touch  centers  of  the  brain,  throwing  out  new 
fibres  to  the  centers  of  sight,  sound,  taste  and  smell. 
As  these  enlarged  in  number  and  power,  so  her 
knowledge  increased. 

Educational  institutions  can  only  place  the  neural 
structures  of  the  students  in  contact  with  a  superior 
environment.  In  other  words,  education  consists,  or 
should  consist,  of  repeated  presentations  to  the  sensory 
nerves  of  the  most  important  objective  truths,  with 
which  the  nervous  structure,  by  constant  practice,  can 
establish  correspondence,  and  build  up  a  method  and 
memory.  This  is  usually  done  by  means  of  printed 
books,  containing  the  best  ideas,  and  by  oral  lectures 
conveying  the  most  important  objective  truths.  But 


194  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

the  daily  observations  of  natural  phenomena  in  physics, 
psychology,  biology,  sociology,  and  ethics,  by  induc- 
tion, are  the  main  sources  of  desirable  education.  Each 
student  brain  responds  to  such  environment,  in  pro- 
portion, to  the  brain's  quality  and  intensity,  and  to 
the  new  channels  possible  to  be  opened,  for  molecular 
motion,  to  operate  in  the  brain.  A  certain  tonicity  is 
thus  given  to  after  psychical  processes,  and  those 
neural  associative  centers  greatly  increased  and 
strengthened,  which  produce  mentality.  Memory  con- 
sists of  the  readiness  and  power  of  the  cross  associative 
conduction  paths,  to  recall ;  and  the  will,  the  power  to 
apply,  the  images  thus  made,  in  all  the  psychical  pro- 
cesses of  after  life.  "Reasoning  is  a  synthesis  of 
images"  by  the  following  process:  For  example,  the 
individual  sees  a  funeral  pass  along  the  street.  The 
image  of  it  is  instantly  formed  on  the  optical  center  of 
his  brain,  and  there  it  evokes,  by  association,  the 
memory  of  numerous  other  funerals  he  has  seen,  and 
what  he  has  read,  and  learned,  in  the  past,  upon  the 
subject  of  death.  These  like  images  fuse  into  a  gen- 
eral image,  viz.,  that  all  men  will  die,  therefore  he  will 
die,  which  is  an  abstraction.  Without  the  former  ex- 
periences of  the  same,  or  similar  impressions,  he  could 
not  have  thus  concluded.  A  child  gradually  attains  a 
knowledge  of  likenesses  and  differences, — all  the  rela- 
tions that  common  objects  bear  to  each  other. — by  the 
constant  use  of  sight,  touch,  hearing,  taste  and  smell. 
Upon  the  experience  thus  obtained  his  powers  of  men- 
tality, in  after  life,  are  gradually  developed,  by  their 
direct  effect  in  improving  the  mobility  of  his  brain  in 
quantity  and  quality.  The  limit  of  these  powers  is 
fixed  only  by  the  physical  complexity  of  his  nervous 
structure, — those  plexuses  through  which  ideas  are 


MIND    IS    FUNCTION  195 

formed.  Each  idea  arises  out  of  former  ideas,  and 
gives  birth  to  new  ones.  The  structure,  and  quality  of 
the  higher  organism  are  the  result  of  "Variation," 
brought  about,  in  the  same  method,  from  the  same 
causes,  that  produce  other  organic  variations.  The  law 
of  variation  in  the  structure,  as  said  before,  of  organ- 
isms, upon  which  natural  selection  operates  to  produce 
new  species,  is  rather  obscure.  It  is  thought,  that  at 
certain  periods,  not  definitely  determined,  especially 
for  animal  organisms,  variation  appears  by  a  law  of 
rhythm,  in  procreation.  Sometimes,  especially  in  low 
orders  of  vegetation,  this  law  produces,  at  once,  a  new 
species.  Yet  the  influence  of  environment,  as  well  as 
inherency,  is  known  to  affect  the  offspring  very  de- 
cidedly. Max  Meyer  says  that  the  ganglionic  centers 
of  the  brain  have  the  power  to  throw  out  new  fibres 
and  thus  form  new  reflexes,  and  these  are  variations. 

RACE  DIFFERENCES. — The  variation  in  structure  that 
enables  one  man  to  comprehend  more  numerous  and 
obscure  facts,  and  by  virtue  of  former  experiences, 
commonly  called  education,  to  draw  more  accurately 
the  correct  conclusions  from  them,  than  another  man 
is  capable  of  doing,  is  what  is  called  the  better  mind. 
The  ampler  this  responsiveness,  the  greater  the  knowl- 
edge. The  known  to  him,  is  just  what  his  nervous 
structure  enables  him  to  absorb  from  the  outer  realm, 
and  co-ordinate  into  ideas.  The  domain  of  the  know- 
able,  is  just  in  proportion  to  the  development  of  this 
correspondence.  Thus  structure  and  function  go  hand 
in  hand.  They  are  simultaneous  in  development. 

The  colored  children  in  schools  are  said  to  be  quite 
as  apt  in  the  elementary  studies  as  the  white  children, 
and  in  many  cases,  more  readily  absorb  the  teachings. 
But,  when  the  higher  branches  are  reached,  the  white 


196  UNIVERSAL   EVOLUTION 

children  usually  leave  behind  the  colored  ones.  This  is 
explainable,  only  on  the  theory  of  evolution,  that  func- 
tion or  use,  and  structure  proceed  simultaneously.  The 
ancestry  of  the  white  child  for  innumerable  genera- 
tions have  been  surrounded  by  a  civilization  that 
necessarily  resulted  from  a  superior  nervous  system, 
and  especially  those  higher  qualities  of  the  brain  called 
intellect,  and  probably  these  reacted  on  the  brain 
itself  in  improving  its  quality  and  structure.  This 
difference  in  the  brains  of  different  races  is  a  curious 
study.  It  is  altogether  probable  it  was  caused  by  en- 
vironment, in  drawing  out  the  power  of  the  brain.  For 
at  one  time,  the  races  must  have  been  practically  alike 
in  aptitude.  But  as  they  diverged,  in  geographical  dis- 
tribution, the  influence  of  climate,  soil,  and  consequent 
food  and  habits,  began  to  work  at  once  a  difference  in 
the  anatomy  and  physiology  as  well  as.  of  course,  of 
the  psychology.  The  white  race  spread  over  Europe 
and  the  black  race  over  Africa.  The  physical  differ- 
ences of  the  two  regions  are  so  apparent  as  not  to 
require  notice  here.  The  difference  in  climate  alone 
would  cause  a  great  divergence  in  the  races.  When 
large  numbers  of  the  negro  race  were  brought  to 
America  as  slaves,  their  anatomy  in  time  began  to 
change,  as  they  multiplied  by  heredity,  although  the 
southern  states  are  not  so  very  different  in  climate, 
from  parts  of  Africa.  After  slavery  was  abolished 
these  negroes  began  to  improve.  Now,  here  and  there, 
are  some  of  them  who  have  shown  ability  equal  to  the 
average  whites.  In  time,  (  a  long  time),  there  is  little 
doubt,  but  that  they  will  develop,  as  a  class,  into  a 
brain  capacity  equal,  in  natural  aptitude,  to  the  aver- 
age whites.  This  will  result,  after  many  generations, 
from  living  in  the  same  environment  with  the  white 


MIND    IS    FUNCTION  197 

race,  and  enjoying  the  same  freedom  and  opportunity. 

The  superior  form  of  the  matter  making  up  the 
organism  of  the  white  race,  and  inherited  from  genera- 
tion to  generation,  must  have  come  originally  as  a 
variation  from  such  structure  in  his  ancestors,  by 
reason  of  the  peculiar  incidence  of  natural  forces  in 
his  immediate  environment,  very  likely  by  the  superior 
sustentation,  as  Weissman  believes,  of  the  procreative 
cell.  We  infer,  therefore,  that  the  white  race's  superi- 
ority to  the  black  race  is  the  result  of  the  natural 
selection  of  more  numerous  and  important  variations 
of  neural  structure,  occurring  in  that  race,  brought 
about  probably  by  a  more  highly  complex  form  of  sus- 
tentation and  effort. 

"The  superior  development  of  Aryans  and  Semites 
is  perhaps  attributable  to  the  copious  meat  and  milk 
diet  of  both  races ;  more  especially  to  the  favorable  in- 
fluence of  such  food  on  the  growth  of  children." 
(Engels.)  This  refers  to  the  period  of  the  lower  stages 
of  barbarism,  in  the  evolution  of  these  two  races,  when 
they  began  the  taking  of  animals  for  domestic  use. 
"Our  conclusion  is,  that  variation  progressive,  or  re- 
gressive, and  also  mutation,  in  fact,  any  inherited 
modification  of  the  race,  is  instituted  by  stimulus  of  the 
environment."  (Montgomery).  An  environment  re- 
mote as  well  as  near.  Though  Darwin  held  that  varia- 
tions were  the  results  of  "inherent  tendency,"  more 
than  environment.  But,  it  is  likely  that  this  "inherent 
tendency"  originally  arose  from  superior  sustentation 
of  those  showing  it. 

"It  is  at  least  supposable  that  the  Aryan  and  Semitic 
families  owe  their  pre-eminent  endowments  to  the  great 
scale  upon  which,  as  far  back  as  our  knowledge  ex- 
tends, they  have  identified  themselves  with  the  main- 


198  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

tenance  in  numbers  of  the  domestic  animals.  In  fact, 
they  incorporated  them,  flesh,  milk  and  muscle  into 
their  plan  of  life.  No  other  family  of  mankind  have 
done  this  to  a  great  extent,  and  the  Aryans  have  done 
it  to  a  greater  extent  than  the  Semitic."  (Morgan  in 
"Ancient  Society.") 

The  term  "inherent"  must  be  interpreted,  not  as 
something  given,  but  as  an  unknown  cause.  No  evolu- 
tion takes  place  independent  of  environment,  for 
always  there  is  at  least  an  assimilation  of  matter  from 
outside  the  structure.  This  is  as  true  of  the  germ 
plasm  of  the  germ  cell,  as  of  the  cells  going  only  to  the 
formation  of  body  tissue.  This  is  the  view  of  the 
Neo-Lamarckian  school.  There  is  no  evidence  of  a 
"perfecting  principle"  in  the  germ  cell,  as  claimed  by 
Nagaeli — "prophetically  determining  descent  with 
modifications;"  nor  of  a  vital  impetus. 

There  are  no  "inherent"  tendencies  in  matter  to 
assume  consequent  forms,  or  tropisms,  or  tendencies, 
unless  they  are  natural.  A  response  to  a  stimulus,  of 
what  is  called  an  environment,  or  something  beyond 
the  body  of  the  thing  acted  upon,  is  probably  the  prin- 
cipal cause.  For  example,  there  can  be  no  change  in 
the  anatomy,  or  physiology,  of  an  organism,  unless  it  is 
a  reaction  to  an  external  stimulus,  such  as  the  assimila- 
tion of  food,  and  the  reaction  in  an  organism,  is  always 
different  from  stimulus  in  form.  "Inherent"  is  fre- 
quently used  to  signify  "unknown." 

Therefore,  variation  is  not  produced  by  an  inherent 
tendency ;  but  probably  by  a  change  in  the  sustentation 
of  the  substance  of  the  germ  cell  through  the 
cytoplasm.  The  gro\vth  energy  changes  the  matter 
absorbed,  to  something  different,  and  sends  it  back  to 
the  cytoplasm.  These  environmental  influences  include 


MIND    IS    FUNCTION  199 

the  stimuli  of  the  tissue  cells  upon  the  germ  cells,  the 
tissue  cells  having  become  specialized,  in  different 
parts  of  the  body,  and  produce  the  peculiarities  of  the 
individual.  These  peculiarities  react  in  some  way  upon 
the  germ  cells,  and  effect  the  subsequent  chromosomes. 
The  result  is,  that  some  acquired  characters  become 
hereditary.  The  question  is,  which  ones?  "All  charac- 
ters now  congenital  have  been  at  some  time  acquired." 
(Cope,  1896.)  "Inherited  variation  results  from  the 
interaction  of  external  influences,  and  energies  of  the 
chromosomes."  (Montgomery.)  As  said  before,  varia- 
tions are  said  by  De  Vries  to  come  periodically  in  the 
offspring. 

FUNCTION. — The  energy  retained  in  the  matter,  form- 
ing the  organism,  from  the  moment  the  germ  cell  is 
fertilized,  and  the  cells  begin  to  multiply,  until  its 
maturity,  that  is  not  dissipated  in  its  growth,  and  de- 
velopment, forms  the  function  of  the  subsequent  or- 
ganism. Psychical  function  is  the  continuing  adapta- 
tion of  the  organism  to  relations  in  its  environment. 
It  is  the  individual's  perception  of  phenomena,  by  the 
continuity  of  images  perpetually  produced,  by  the 
psychical  patterns  of  the  brain.  As  this  adaptation 
enlarges,  and  becomes  more  complex,  it  is  necessarily 
accomplished  by  an  enlarged  and  more  complex  struc- 
ture, of  the  matter  of  the  organism.  The  two  Condi- 
tions are  inseparable. 

Considering  the  first  formation  of  a  nerve,  in  the 
course  of  biological  evolution,  as  the  beginning  of  a 
higher  quality  of  mentality,  than  that  existing  without 
nerve  structure,  it  was,  of  course;  a  variation  favorable 
to  the  organism,  in  its  struggle  for  existence.  Natural 
selection  would  perpetuate  this  favorable  variation; 
and  progeny,  inheriting  the  variation,  would  naturally 


200  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

be  the  ones  to  produce  eventually  another  and  still 
other  variations  of  more  complex  nervous  structure. 
The  survival  all  the  time  of  the  best  adapted,  or  the 
fittest,  would  end  in  a  superior  psychophysical  unit. 

Upon  this  theory,  it  becomes  at  once  apparent,  that 
the  great  variety  of  intelligence,  or  mentality,  we  see 
in  animal  nature,  has  been  caused  by  the  simultaneous 
variation  of  structure,  and  of  the  function  thereof,  in 
all  the  innumerable  organisms  of  every  line  of  descent, 
in  the  organic  kingdom. 

For  example,  two  blades  of  grass,  almost  side  by  side, 
will  often  show  a  great  difference  in  growth,  because 
the  rapid  growing  one  happens  to  be  in  contact,  at  its 
roots,  with  a  richer  food,  than  its  near  neighbor,  this 
richer  food  being  a  part  of  its  environment ;  and 
immediately  its  function,  to  take  in  more  and  more 
sustentation,  grows  simultaneously  with  its  parallel 
development  of  root  and  stem  structure,  until  it  over- 
shadows its  puny  neighbor,  whose  structure  remains 
adapted  only  to  its  function  to  take  in  the  smaller,  and 
less  nutritious  sustentation.  This  puny  blade  lacks  the 
environment  of  richer  food  of  its  more  fortunate  neigh- 
bor. The  former  produces  large  and  vigorous  seeds, 
in  correspondence  with  its  larger  function  of  sustenta- 
tion; while  the  seed,  of  the  weaker  blade,  will  barely 
germinate  at  all,  and  perhaps  dies  out.  But  the  differ- 
ence between  the  successive  generations  of  the  two 
blades  of  grass,  for  all  the  time  they  may  exist,  is 
caused  by  the  habits,  or  functions,  begun  by  the  two 
original  blades,  the  difference  of  function  producing 
the  visible  difference  of  structure.  Weissman  's  theory 
of  heredity  includes  just  this  principle  of  variation.  He 
seems  to  think  variation  is  the  result  of  the  larger 
difference  in  sustentation  received  by  the  biopher.  pro- 


MIND    IS    FUNCTION  201 

chicing  the  variation.  In  a  forest  there  are  a  few 
magnificent,  lordly  trees  to  the  acre.  The  original 
seedlings  stood  as  many  to  the  square  yard.  The  differ- 
ence is  accounted  for  by  the  deadly  struggle  for  exist- 
ence. Those  that  have  survived  are  the  ones  that  had 
the  better  correspondence  with  the  environment,  and 
are  the  survival  of  the  fittest.  It  is  thus  throughout 
the  realm  of  nature. 

So  with  the  highest  organism  called  man.  His  supe- 
rior mentality  has  been  evolved  as  part  of,  and  simul- 
taneously with,  his  superior  physical  organism.  His 
nervous  organization,  composing  the  avenues  by  which 
molecular  motion,  producing  that  complicated  and  ob- 
scure aggregation  called  the  mind,  is  made  possible,  is 
the  material,  or  physical  registration  of  all  the  previous 
structure,  producing  the  habits,  the  peculiar  line  of 
action ;  in  other  words,  the  function,  of  all  his  ancestry 
back  to  the  beginning  of  cell  formation,  from  which 
originally  his  life  began.  This  mentality  gives  him  an 
immense  advantage  over  other  animals,  in  the  struggle 
for  existence. 

When  the  variation,  in  nerve  structure,  occurred, 
which  differentiated  man's  ancestral  line  from  that  of 
other  animal  forms,  it  probably  occurred  in  the  same 
way  essentially  that  the  variation  did  in  the  blade  of 
grass  above  referred  to.  It  was  entirely  material,  and 
natural  in  its  cause.  Its  capacity  for  producing  subse- 
quent favorable  variations,  in  the  line  of  human  evolu- 
tion, was  at  that  time  established.  Every  successive 
organism,  of  this  ancestry,  inherited  the  essential 
structure,  and  function,  of  its  predecessor.  Occasion- 
ally one  would  show  a  variation  favorable  to  its. 
struggle  for  existence,  which  also  became  inherited ; 
and  the  added  function  of  this  variation  became,  alsor 


202  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

inheritable ;  and  thus  the  present,  human  organisms,  on 
this  globe,  are  simply  the  organized  registration  of  the 
habits,  and  peculiarities,  of  all  of  their  ancestry,  back 
to  the  beginning  of  life.  The  process  has  undoubtedly 
been  exceedingly  slow. 

MENTALITY  DEPENDS  ON  STRUCTURE. — Nervous  struc- 
tures may  be  compared  to  an  J^olian  harp,  which 
produces  beautiful  music,  when  the  motion  of  the 
air  strikes  its  chords.  If  the  correct  arrangement  of 
the  strings  exists,  the  harmony  is  produced.  The 
quality  of  music  depends  upon  the  structure.  The 
higher  the  structure  of  the  instrument,  the  higher  the 
class  of  music.  So  the  quality  of  thought,  in  man,  is 
determined  by  the  structure  of  the  nervous  system. '  If 
the  structure  adapted  to  respond  to  the  higher  and 
finer  qualities  of  sensations,  transforming  these  into 
percepts  and  concepts,  is  not  there,  there  will  be,  either 
no  response,  or  an  abortive,  or  inharmonious  psychical 
reaction.  This  high  structure  was  in  Shakespeare,  and, 
in  fact,  in  all  the  great  thinkers ;  and  was  so  responsive 
to  the  most  acute  and  truthful  sensations  coming  to  it 
from  the  highest  harmony  of  objective  relationship  in 
the  environment,  that  the  thoughts  Shakespeare  pro- 
duced are  among  the  most  satisfying,  that  have  been 
perpetuated  in  written  language. 

Why  did  Newton  see  the  significance  of  the  falling 
of  the  apple,  while  other  men,  with  brains  and  nerves 
apparently  like  his,  failed  to  make  such  an  important 
discovery?  It  must  be,  because  there  was  a  small 
structure  (a  variation),  of  nerve  matter  in  his  brain, 
lacking  in  other  heads,  that  responded  to  the  sensation 
coming  from  the  falling  apple,  through  the  optic  nerve, 
upon  the  optic  brain  center,  forming  a  series  of  suc- 
cessive images,  impossible  to  the  other  brains.  These 


MIND    IS    FUNCTION  203 

were  memory  images,  and  innumerable  past  sensations 
of  falling  bodies,  and  of  astronomical  bodies  revolving 
in  apparent  circles,  and  of  Kepler's  three  laws,  which 
were  known  to  Newton.  The  fusing  of  these  images, 
on  the  brain  cortex,  was  the  concept,  or  abstraction, 
of  the  great  principle  of  the  attraction  of  gravitation. 
This  might,  also,  be  the  answer  to  Huxley's  question, 
put  to  himself,  upon  reading  for  the  first  time  Darwin's 
"Origin  of  Species,"  "Why  could  not  I  have  drawn 
the  same  conclusions,  from  the  same  well  known 
facts?"  The  point  is,  that  all  of  Shakespeare's  and 
Newton's  contemporaries  were  in  the  same  environ- 
ment, but  could  not  interpret  it  as  these  two  did,  be- 
cause they  lacked  the  brain  structure. 

If  new  fibres  from  the  ganglia  of  reflex  arcs,  making 
more  complex  connection  in  the  noetic  device,  can  be 
formed  by  the  exercise  of  mentality,  then  Newton,  by 
his  profound  studies  in  mathematics,  probably  did  this. 
In  this  manner,  he  may  have  greatly  enlarged  the 
power  of  his  brain.  However,  it  is  best  to  remark 
here,  that  an  inferior  brain  could  not  throw  out  these 
"short  cuts"  by  any  amount  of  mental  exertion,  which 
it  is  capable  of  making. 

THE  USEFUL  Is  THE  ONLY  KNOWLEDGE. — We  do 
not  need  "noumenon"  or  "absolute  truth,"  any  more 
than  we  need  an  "absolute  cause."  Truth  to  us 
must  be  relative  to  our  space,  time  and  needs.  In 
other  words,  as  we  are  only  relative  beings,  our  knowl- 
edge, our  truths,  must  be  adapted  to  our  conditions. 
Unconditioned,  or  absolute  truth  would  not  be  ap- 
plicable to  conditioned  individuals.  It  is  only  what 
has  a  bearing  upon  our  dependence  on  a  material  envi- 
ronment, that  can  be  known,  or  be  of  use  to  us.  There- 
fore the  efforts  to  understand  the  absolute,  or  uncon- 


204  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

ditioned,  is  not  only  futile ;  it  is  wasted,  because,  if  it 
could  be  successful,  it  would  not  be  beneficial.  All  talk 
about  "pure  reason"  and  "practical  reason."  in  which, 
by  the  former,  man  cannot  prove  the  existence  of  a 
final  cause,  nor  comprehend  the  unconditioned ;  and  by 
the  latter,  that  he  must  still  believe  in  a  final  cause, 
notwithstanding  his  intellect  is  limited  to  time  and 
space,  or  the  conditioned,  is  an  irrelevant  conception, 
and  an  illogical  philosophy.  It  is  not  "practical 
reason"  to  pursue  the  unattainable,  but  to  confine  our- 
selves to  that  which  reason  teaches  us  is  attainable  and 
practical.  The  understanding  of  our  needs  in  the  ob- 
vious relations  we  bear,  to  the  real  sources  of  our 
welfare,  the  physical  and  psychical  universe,  is  what 
should  be  the  aim  of  man.  If  truth  is  that  which  works 
to  the  benefit  of  man,  and  error  that  which  works  to  his 
injury,  or  rather  to  the  injury  of  the  race,  it  is  man's 
own  brain  that  must  determine  what  is  truth,  and  what 
is  error.  Where  else  than  his  own  brain,  is  he  to  form 
his  judgments  upon  that  matter?  He  must  make  the 
test, — his  own  welfare, — for  there  is  no  other  visible 
power  upon  which  he  can  rely  in  his  every  day  prac- 
tical problems.  He  must  work  them  out  himself. 

Truth  is  the  universe.  There  can  be  no  absolute 
truth  of  a  part  separate  from  the  whole  universe. 
Everything  is  effected  by  every  other  thing,  and  there- 
fore cannot  be  correctly  interpreted  apart.  There  is 
nothing  existing  that  does  not  fit  into  the  whole,  and 
work  with  the  whole.  In  this  light  only  can  it  be 
truth.  The  intellect  of  man  cannot  encompass  the  in- 
finite universe,  only  a  small  part  of  it.  Man's  knowl- 
edge, therefore,  is  not  of  absolute  truth,  but  relative 
only.  He  must  be  satisfied  with  this  limitation  of  his 
knowledge.  The  term  "self  and  not-self"  is  intended 


MIND    IS    FUNCTION  205 

to  represent  the  universe  as  one.  Self,  being  the  indi- 
vidual, is  a  part  of  the  monistic  universe,  and  the  rest 
of  it  is  that  which  is  external  to  him ;  it  is  his  environ- 
ment. They  must  be  interpreted  together  in  order  to 
arrive  at  the  truth  of  either.  The  self  without  its  cor- 
respondence with  ''not-self"  would  have  no  meaning, 
and  the  latter  without  the  self,  in  relation,  would  be 
without  meaning  to  the  self. 

The  naturalist  is  necessarily  a  monist,  a  material- 
istic monist,  because  he  believes  in  a  material  universe 
that  was  evolved,  not  created ;  and,  of  course,  that  uni- 
verse is  one  and  infinite.  It  is  one,  because  every  part 
is  dependent  on  every  other  part,  and  could  not  exist 
without  this  relativity.  The  original  nebula,  from 
which  the  evolution  of  worlds  began,  was  composed  of 
homogeneous  matter,  and  every  sensuous  form,  now 
existing,  is  composed  of  the  same  atoms  of  matter. 
There  is  nothing  palpable  that  is  not  an  evolution  from 
nebulous  matter.  So  that,  so  called  mind,  or  psychical 
phenomenon,  is  one  with  matter.  Matter  and  motion 
are  one,  and  that  one,  it  is  just  as  well,  to  call  motion, 
as  to  call  it  matter.  Everything  can  be  reduced  to 
energy,  or  force,  and — every  apparent  phenomenon — 
a  tree,  or  thought,  or  idea — may  be  called  a  form  of 
energy.  This  energy,  to  man,  is  the  ultimate,  and  his 
reason  can  go  no  further.  Beyond  is  assumption,  with- 
out the  aid  of  reason. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
SELF 

ATTENTION  is  generally  given  to  the  thinking 
device  of  the  human  being,  with  the  idea, 
that  it  is  "the  self,"  a  changeless  ego. 
Descartes  founded  his  philosophy  upon  this 
idea.  He  said:  "I  attentively  examined  what  I  was, 
and  I  observed  that  I  could  suppose,  that  I  had  no 
body,  and  there  was  no  world,  nor  any  place  in  which 
I  might  be,  but  that  I  could  not  therefore  suppose  that 
I  was  not;  I  thence  concluded  that  I  was  a  substance 
whose  sole  essence,  or  nature,  consists  only  in  thinking, 
and  which,  that  it  may  exist,  has  no  need  of  place,  nor 
is  dependent  on  any  material  thing;  so  that  'I,'  that 
is  to  say,  the  mind,  by  which  I  am  what  I  am,  is  wholly 
distinct  from  the  body,  and  is  more  easily  known  than 
the  latter,  and  is  such  that  although  the  latter  were 
not,  it  would  still  continue  to  be  all  that  it  is."  This 
means  that  the  process  of  co-ordination  of  sensations, 
in  the  encephalon,  into  ideas,  i.  e.,  the  process  of  think- 
ing, is  an  entity,  the  only  abiding  thing  in  the  indi- 
vidual, or  body.  It  means  what  later  phychologists 
call  "consciousness,"  or  "pure  experience."  in  which 
the  only  real  thing  is  the  object,  is  something  entirely 
different  from  the  rest  of  nature. 

Bergson  calls  this  ' '  a  flux  of  fleeting  shades,  merging 
into  each  other."  "An  ego  which  does  not  change, 
does  not  endure. ' '  All  reality  is  a  constant  change.  It 
is  apparent,  from  the  argument  of  the  preceding  pages, 
that  this  is  only  a  passing  phenomenon,  that  accom- 
panies matter,  when  that  matter  is  in  the  form  of 
living  tissue. 

206 


SELF  207 

He,  who  is  not  able  to  conceive  the  thinking  without 
a  body,  or  that  any  part  of  the  organism  could  exist 
without  a  material  abiding  place,  such  as  the  earth,  will 
most  likely  adopt  the  theory  of  evolution;  and  as  a 
starting  point  for  the  pursuit  of  truth,  will  begin  with 
the  nebula.  As  far  as  he  can  reason,  from  the  present 
natural  phenomena  apparent  to  his  senses,  he  can  infer 
that  the  present  state  of  physics  and  psychics  has  evolved 
from  that  primitive  condition  of  all  matter  and  motion. 
This  method  of  philosophy  includes  the  "I"  of  Des- 
cartes, as  a  passing  condition,  and  one  of  the  phenomena 
of  that  development.  This  phenomenon  is  the  product 
of  a  conserved  energy,  in  the  form  of  indestructible 
matter.  Therefore  its  elements  are  infinite  and  perpet- 
ual. When  its  present  evanescent  form  is  changed, 
these  elements  will  assume  another  form,  equally  short 
lived. 

No  THOUGHT  WITHOUT  BRAIN  AND  ENVIRONMENT. — 
The  philosophy  of  this  age  teaches,  that  this  process 
of  perpetual  change  will  continue  through  infinity. 
But  Descartes  assumed  that  the  form  itself  is  what 
abides,  without  even  stating  of  what  it  is  composed. 
He  did  not  treat  the  thinking  process  as  a  fleeting 
condition,  but  as  an  entity  infinite  in  duration.  Had 
he  studied  the  close  connection  between  brain  and 
thought  he  would  have  seen  that  thought  was  produced 
by  material  objective  things  in  the  environment,  acting 
upon  a  material  objective  thing — the  brain,  and  thus 
would  have  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  thinking 
could  not  take  place  without  a  material  world.  ' '  Think- 
ing is  a  physical  process,  and  it  cannot  exist,  or  produce 
anything  without  materials,  any  more  than  any  other 
process  of  labor.  My  thought  requires  some  material 
which  can  be  thought  of.  This  material  is  furnished 


208  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

by  the  phenomena  of  nature  and  life."  (Joseph 
Dietzgen. ) 

To  common  sense,  there  exist  two  things — self  and 
not-self.  The  scientist  knows  they  are  one,  but,  in 
practical  every  day  activities,  they  must  be  treated  as 
two.  Of  course,  the  unscientific  do  not  always  see 
the  "not-self"  correctly.  Otherwise  mankind  would 
not  be  deluded,  or  illuded.  But  suppose  one  should 
discard  the  use  of  his  senses,  and  depend  entirely  upon 
what  the  idealist  calls  intuition,  under  the  old  defini- 
tion, knowing  without  experience,  would  he  be  any  the 
less  deluded  ?  He  undoubtedly  would  be  wrong  in  his 
facts,  most,  if  not,  all  the  time.  In  that  case,  the  world 
would  still  be  inhabited  by  ghosts,  and  the  light  of 
the  sun,  and  stars,  and  the  blue  of  the  sky,  would 
still  be  shut  out  by  innumerable  forms  of  angels  and 
hobgoblins. 

"The  notion  that  truth  external  to  the  mind  may  be 
known  by  intuition,  or  consciousness,  independently  of 
observation,  and  experience,  is,  I  am  persuaded,  in  these 
times,  the  great  intellectual  support  to  false  doctrines, 
and  institutions.  By  the  aid  of  this  theory,  every 
inveterate  belief,  and  every  intense  feeling,  of  which 
the  origin  is  not  remembered,  is  enabled  to  dispense 
with  the  obligation  of  justifying  itself  by  reason."  (John 
Stuart  MilU 

The  intuitive  theory  adopted,  for  its  main  support, 
the  evidence  of  Mathematics,  and  the  cognate  branches 
of  physical  science.  But  Mill's  "System  of  Logic"  at- 
tacked this  support,  and  sought  to  show  that  these 
sciences  are,  also,  inductive.  They  are  strictly  material. 

"Our  ideas  and  concepts,  and  scientific  theories  pass 
for  true  only  so  far  as  they  harmoniously  lead  back  to 
the  world  of  sense."  (William  James.)  So  that 


SELF  209 

pragmatism   is  in  accordance  with  the  theory  of  this 
book,  that  is,  it  is  materialistic  to  that  extent. 

Sir  J.  J.  Thompson  says:  "Water  vapor  will  refuse 
to  condense  into  rain,  unless  there  are  particles  of  dust 
to  form  nuclei ;  so  an  idea  before  taking  shape  seems 
to  require  a  nucleus  of  solid  fact  round  which  it  can 
condense."  He  was  speaking  of  the  origin  of  some  of 
the  most  comprehensive  ideas  of  science.  This  is 
illustrative  of  the  difference  between  the  mental  tenden- 
cies of  himself,  and  Henri  Bergson.  It  is  the  difference 
between  intellect,  and  what  the  latter  defines  as  intui- 
tion. Intellect  seizes  hold  of  matter,  only  after  its 
evolution  into  certain  forms,  as  the  reservoir  of  facts 
important  to  the  welfare,  and  knowledge  of  man.  The 
forms  of  matter; — the  stable  forms  we  are  in  the  habit 
of  calling  them,  although  they  are  in  reality  the  entirely 
unstable;  are  always  becoming,  they  are  in  the  making, 
but  never  made.  But  intuition,  which  transcends  ex- 
perience, or  is  just  beyond  that  consciousness  which 
represents  past  and  present  experience,  just  as  the 
X-rays  of  light  are  beyond  the  sight  of  the  natural  eye ; 
this  is  represented  by  the  author  of  the  new  "Creative 
Evolution"  as  that  which  penetrates  beyond  the  de- 
graded static  forms,  to  the  flow  of  becoming,  and  plucks 
from  it  such  facts  as  "duration,"  "vital  impetus,"  and 
the  "universal  consciousness."  Who  can  object?  If 
any  scientist  is  possessed  of  such  intuition,  which  is  an 
extension  of  intellect,  or  has  grown  out  of  it,  or  out  of 
the  experience  of  the  human  senses,  or  has  obtained  it 
in  any  real  way,  and  with  it,  can  give  us  knowledge 
of  noumenon,  or  thing-in-itself,  or  the  flux  of  the 
universal  becoming,  now  beyond  the  reach  of  intellect, 
and  of  use  to  life  forms,  in  their  noetic  limitations,  he 
is  a  person  entitled  to  the  highest  honor.  Heretofore, 


210  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

the  evolutionist,  and  the  natural  philosopher,  have 
seized  upon  the  motions  of  matter  in  its  apparent 
changes,  from  the  exterior,  of  course,  because  the  intel- 
lect could  not  penetrate  to  the  center,  and  work  as  life 
does,  towards  the  circumference.  It  was  compelled  to 
reverse  the  evident  method  of  nature,  entirely,  on  ac- 
count of  the  limitations  of  the  intellect.  Now  if 
Bergson.  can,  with  intuition,  give  the  world  a  better 
system  of  philosophy  than,  so  far,  the  scientists  of  the 
Darwinian  school  have  given,  who  can  object?  He  has 
given  an  intimation  only  of  such  in  "Creative  Evolu- 
tion," but  nothing  like  a  philosophical  system.  It  seems 
that  it  may  be  far  beyond  mechanism,  and  short  of 
finality,  in  that  a  personal  creator,  and  controller  is 
not  expected  to  be  reached. 

Bergson  says  that  intuition  is  an  enlarged  instinct. 
Of  course  instinct  is  an  inherited  single  choice  of  doing 
things,  and  is  usually  defined  as  a  special  innate  pro- 
pensity, which  transcends  the  experience  of  the  organ- 
ism. This  is  also  what  intuition  is.  But  intuition  is 
usually  attributed  to  human  beings,  and  instinct  to 
animals,  as  well  as  to  the  human  being.  If  the  intui- 
tion which  Bergson  calls  an  enlarged  instinct,  and 
which  he  also  thinks  grows  out  of  intellect,  shall  be 
able  to  solve  the  enigma  of  origin,  and  vital  impetus, 
he  will  have  to  revise  his  definitions,  one  or  both.  In- 
tellect comes  by  experience,  and  if  intuition  grows  out 
of  that,  how  can  it  be  an  enlarged  instinct,  which  he 
claims  does  not  grow  out  of  experience.  He  says  in- 
stinct and  intellect  are  different  in  kind.  There  is  a 
paradox  in  his  views  upon  these  qualities  of  the  brain. 

THE  EGO. — Man  is  a  product  of  evolution  and  a 
differentiated  form  of  natural  phenomena.  Therefore 
it  is  best  to  view  him  in  his  bodily  form,  and  consider 


SELF  211 

the  Ego  to  be  the  whole  individual  human  organism. 

It  is  a  psychophysical  organism.  The  psychical  and 
the  physical  are  inseparable,  and  part  of  the  universal 
interaction  of  matter  and  motion.  They  are  undoubt- 
edly only  differentiations  of  the  same  basic  unit  of 
cosmic  energy.  The  Ego,  as  thus  defined,  has  in  nearly 
all  the  past  been  considered  only  as  an  entity,  whose 
psychical  and  physical  motions  are  not  dependent  on 
any  connections  they  might  have,  with  the  rest  of  the 
universe.  But,  to  the  penetrating  eye  of  science,  it  is 
a  heterogeneous  organism,  whose  specialized  organs 
are  co-ordinated  parts  of  the  general  mass  of  matter, 
and  whose  functions  are  determined  by  their  connec- 
tion with  the  persistence  of  force.  It  is  similar  to  a 
wheel,  in  complex  machinery,  whose  revolving  motion 
depends  on  the  connection  of  its  cogs  with  those  of 
other  wheels.  What  we  call  human  life  then,  seems  to 
be  a  correspondence  between  an  Ego,  or  human  body, 
and  an  environment  with  which,  in  order  to  maintain 
its  continuance,  it  is  necessary  to  remain  in  touch. 
Death  is  a  discontinuance  of  this  correspondence. 

Thinking  is  a  passing  condition,  depending  upon  its 
physical  connection  with  the  body.  No  one  has  per- 
ceived it  except  in  that  connection.  This  theory  is 
diametrically  opposite  to  that  of  Descartes'.  When 
Descartes  turned  his  attention  to  the  introspection  of 
himself,  in  order  to  determine  the  nature  of  the  thinking 
process,  he  was  a  mature  man.  The  function  of  his 
brain  had  acquired,  by  the  experience  of  all  the  years, 
in  which  he  had  lived,  a  certain  development  by  educa- 
tion and  long  use.  The  meditations,  of  which  he  gives 
an  account,  were  the  result  of  the  maturity  of  his 
psychic  function,  and  at  that  time,  he  was  thinking 
upon  the  results,  or  effects,  of  years  of  training.  This 


212  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

gave  him  the  impression  that  the  thinking  process  was 
to  him  so  automatic,  that  it  appeared  to  him.  that  it 
would  proceed  even  without  a  body,  and  without  an 
abiding  place.  At  the  same  time  he  claimed  that  he 
had  purged  his  brain  of  all  previous  impressions,  or 
prejudices.  We  know  that  he  was  a  believer  in  the 
current  theology.  One  cannot  help  thinking,  notwith- 
standing, he  undoubtedly  made  every  effort  to  forget, 
for  the  time  being,  these  theological  beliefs,  yet  how 
squarely  his  meditations  supported  on  all  sides  these 
beliefs?  But  everyone  knows  how  impossible  it  is  to 
get  away,  simply  by  one's  effort  to  forget,  from  the 
teachings  of  a  lifetime,  and  the  impressions  made  upon 
the  young  mind,  by  teachers.  It  can  be  done  by  a 
long  line  of  study,  in  the  natural  sciences,  the  facts  of 
which  replace  in  the  mind  the  former  impressions.  But 
Descartes  had  not  proceeded  in  that  way,  nor  did  he 
desire  to  get  away  from  theological  ideas.  To  arrive 
at  the  idea  of  the  true  ego,  he  did  not  enter  upon  a 
scientific  analysis  of  the  connection  of  thought  with  the 
function  of  the  brain.  He  made  no  genetic  comparison 
of  the  growth  of  thought  from  birth  to  death,  at  ma- 
turity. He  had  already  concluded  that  animals  did 
not  think,  and,  therefore  he  did  not  consider  a  com- 
parative physiology,  or  psychology.  Had  he  studied 
the  infant  "mind"'  empirically,  he  would  have  discov- 
ered that  its  thinking  was  very  small  compared  with 
that  of  the  mature  "mind."  and  that  as  it  grew 
toward  maturity  its  power  to  think  increased  only  with 
the  growth  of  its  body,  and  brain.  The  use  of  the 
thinking  process,  stimulated  every  moment  by  outside 
influences,  such  as  the  matured  actions  and  speech  of  its 
parents,  teachers  and  playmates,  shows  that  in  infancy 
the  chance  of  independent  thinking  without  a  body 


SELF  213 

or  abiding  place  may  have  been  a  very  negligible 
possibility.  He  would  have  discovered  that  the 
infant,  just  born,  had  a  brain,  with  all  the  cells  and 
machinery  for  thinking,  just  as  the  matured  organism 
has,  but  that  it  evidently  did  not  think  until  it  lived 
long  enough  to  have  a  past,  in  which  memory  was 
weakly  established  by  the  experience  of  its  five  senses; 
and  that,  as  this  experience  grows,  with  the  years  of 
its  existence,  the  power  of  thinking  is  determined  by 
the  brain  structure,  and  not  by  a  thinking  entity  inde- 
pendent of  such  structure.  Then,  had  he  studied  the 
thinking  process  in  the  last  days  of  a  man's  life,  when 
his  power  of  thinking  was  waning,  in  his  second  child- 
hood, he  would  have  found  that  the  process  of  psychical 
development,  in  the  infant,  is  exactly  reversed;  it  de- 
clines, as  the  time  passes,  just  as  the  infant's 
increases ;  that  those  high  modes  of  thought  which  come 
comparatively  late  in  life,  are  the  first  to  cease  in  the 
decline  of  life:  arid  those  instincts,  apparent  in  the 
infant,  survive  to  the  last  moment.  Now,  with  these 
facts  of  the  infant's  and  the  aged  mind  before  him,  how 
could  he  conclude  that  the  infant  ego  could  think  with- 
out a  body,  when  it  could  not  think  with  one?  And 
if  the  body  of  the  senile  octogenarian  ceases  to  live  after 
a  large  part  of  his  thinking  process  has  departed,  will 
his  ego  go  on  thinking  in  the  incoherent  manner  it 
does  at  the  time  of  his  death,  or  will  the  process  it  has 
lost  come  back  to  it  after  death?  If  it  come  back, 
where  does  it  abide  in  the  meantime?  Could  Descartes' 
investigations  into  this  process  of  thinking  follow  be- 
yond the  phenomenon  of  death,  and  could  he  see,  with 
the  human  senses,  the  process  -of  thinking  still  pro- 
ceeding without  a  body,  or  a  brain,  there  would  be 
some  evidence  that  such  a  process  does  not  require  those 


214  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

physical  supports.  But  unfortunately  for  Descartes' 
theory,  his  human  sense  did  not  penetrate  beyond  death. 
He  could  only  see  the  lifeless  body  which  had  lost  the 
process  of  thinking,  while  the  process  itself,  and  its 
effects  were  no  longer  visible.  How  could  he  then 
"suppose  that  I  had  no  body,  and  that  there  was  no 
world,  nor  any  place,  in  which  I  might  be,  but  that  I 
could  not  suppose  that  I  was  not?"  By  mere  intro- 
spection, the  mature  brain  cannot  view  consciously  the 
thinking  process.  One  is  conscious  of  the  effects  of  such 
a  process,  viz.,  the  ideas  and  judgments.  He  is  conscious 
of  the  impressions  made  upon  his  sense  organs  by 
objectivity,  and  of  the  final  effects  produced,  in  the 
brain,  by  these  impressions,  or  sensations.  But  whether 
this  conversion  of  sensation  into  ideas  is  done  by  a 
spiritual  entity  permeating  and  working  the  brain 
tissue,  or  simply  by  the  physiology  of  the  brain  in 
molecular  metabolism,  must  be  determined  by  each  one 
for  himself  according,  as  the  evidence  impresses  his 
brain.  But  it  cannot  be  determined  by  direct  observa- 
tion, viz. :  introspection.  Both  sides,  the  idealist  and 
the  materialist,  agree  that  accompanying  every  psychical 
phenomenon,  such  as  thought,  there  is  a  certain 
molecular  movement  in  the  brain,  or  a  chemical  flux 
inaugurated  by  what  is  called  an  excitation  of  the 
sensory  ends  of  the  nerve  fibres,  which  passes  to  the 
motor  fibres,  by  a  connection  called  a  ganglion.  The 
constant  movement,  in  more  than  three  billions  of 
nerves  throughout  the  body,  gives  it  all  its  functions, 
and  maintains  life,  thought,  reason,  and  all  the  psychic 
phenomena. 

THINKING  NOT  A  MEASURABLE  THING. — But  the  con- 
tention of  those  who  do  not  believe  that  this  move- 
ment produces  thought,  viz:  the  parallelists,  is  that 


SELF  215 

the  molecular  motion  cannot  be  measured,  as  thought, 
the  same  as  reflex  action  in  muscular  motion;  that 
therefore  the  thinking  process  is  a  power  inde- 
pendent of  this  "physical  pulsation."  So  both  sides 
are  agreed  upon  the  facts  of  molecular  motion  followed 
by  the  thought.  One  contends  that  the  molecular  mo- 
tion, or  movement,  is  the  thought,  and  the  other  that 
the  latter  is  really  produced  by  a  power  that  produces 
the  thought  through  such  movement,  but  is  independ- 
ent of  physiological  control.  There  is  no  proof  of  such 
independence,  except  the  negative  one,  that  the  con- 
version of  molecular  motion,  into  thought  cannot  be 
measured  in  the  way,  that  the  conversion  of  motion 
into  heat,  or  into  mechanical  power,  can  be  measured. 
But  this  is  not  proof,  except  of  the  fact  that  no  means 
have  yet  been  devised  to  measure  so  delicate  a  thing, 
or  more  properly  a  condition,  as  thought. 

THE  RELATIONSHIP  OF  THE  EGO. — Having  thus  con- 
cluded that  each  human  being  is  a  Phenomenal  Ego, 
who  has,  in  some  degree,  a  different  environment  from 
every  other,  it  will  be  interesting,  and  perhaps  profit- 
able, to  endeavor  to  reason  out  the  nature  of  this  pecu- 
liar relationship,  as  a  phenomenon.  "The  first  decisive 
step,  in  the  analysis  of  the  complex  web  of  phenomena, 
is  the  polarization  of  the  data  of  experience,  into  their 
objective,  and  subjective  aspects. "  (C.  Lloyd  Morgan.) 
That  is,  notwithstanding  the  monism  of  phenomena, 
the  unity  of  all  phases  of  psychical  activity,  yet  in 
order  to  study  its  nature,  we  must  analyze  its  com- 
ponents, or  at  first  divide  it  into  two  parts.  The  sub- 
jective aspect  is  the  Ego's  end  of  phenomena.  It  is  the 
morphology  of  the  energy,  that  the  laws  of  nature 
aggregate  in  the  individual  organism.  Dr.  Paul  Carus 
says:  "Every  mind  is  the  concentrated  effect  of  the 


216  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

whole  cosmos  upon  one  special  part  of  the  cosmos,  not 
as  it  takes  place  in  one  moment,  but  as  it  has  taken 
place  in  a  definite  and  continuous  period  up  to  date." 
For  the  convenience  of  study,  it  is  divided  into  two 
parts,  one  physical,  by  which  the  life  of  the  organism 
is  maintained,  the  other  psychical,  by  which  what  is 
called  "consciousness"  is  produced.  In  reality,  they 
are  both  one. 

The  body  is  a  differentiated  part  of  the  whole  phe- 
nomena, and  the  most  complex  of  organisms.  The 
physical  phenomena  are  sustentation,  by  which  devel- 
opment and  growth  are  produced,  excretion,  and  pro- 
creation. Sustentation  is  only  the  building  up  of  the 
tissues  of  the  body,  from  the  appropriate  matter  of  the 
environment,  the  process, — metabolism, — being  the 
chemical  and  mechanical  motion;  the  aggregate  pro- 
cess, being  the  integration  of  matter,  and  the  dissipa- 
tion during  the  process  of  integration,  of  a  large  part  of 
the  motion.  The  appropriate  matter  having  become 
specialized  into  the  structure  of  the  different  organs, 
the  function  of  these  organs  is  that  part  of  the  former 
motion,  or  energy,  connected  with  the  matter  of  the 
body,  prior  to  integration,  which  is  not  dissipated  in 
the  process  of  its  evolution. 

Integration  always  occurs  during  a  change,  from  a 
diffused  to  a  less  diffused  condition  of  matter.  Matter, 
in  a  greatly  diffused  condition,  is  always  in  much 
greater  motion,  that  is.  contains  a  greater  mobility, 
than  when  it  is  solid.  The  lessening  of  this  mobility, 
into  a  condition  of  comparative  stability,  means  the 
loss  of  motion,  and  this  motion  is  said  to  come  back, 
when  a  change  is  made  from  a  solid  to  a  fluid,  or  to  a 
gas.  Hence  integration  means  a  loss  of  motion  from 
the  substance  integrated.  The  reverse  process  is  the 


SELF  217 

dissipation  of  matter  and  the  integration  of  motion. 
This  occurs  when  a  solid  is  converted  into  a  gas.  The 
organic  body,  dead,  is  in  process  of  change,  from  the 
form  of  a  solid,  to  that  of  a  gas.  Hence  we  call  death 
a  change  of  form.  In  this  change  nothing  is  lost. 
When  the  change  is  complete  the  weight  of  the  result- 
ing gases  and  residuum  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  body 
in  the  solid  form. 

THE  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA. — The  psychical  phenom- 
ena occur  through  a  peculiar  or  differentiated,  structure 
of  the  physical, — the  nervous  system;  and  the  resulting 
consciousness,  or  knowledge,  or  a  wareness,  or  immediate 
experience,  seems  to  be  a  condition,  whose  real  nature 
psychologists  are  now  studying,  and  about  which,  there 
is  some  difference  of  opinion. 

The  nervous  system  arises,  like  the  other  organs, 
through  a  division  of  labor,  and  takes  upon  itself,  not  a 
different  function,  in  kind,  but  an  increased  degree  of 
the  functions  of  the  tissues  of  the  body. 

The  process  of  the  physical  is  termed  physiological, 
and  the  psychical,  psychological.  But  this  distinction 
is  only  one  of  ideal  classification,  for  the  purpose  of 
study,  and  may  not  have  any  real  basis  in  the  natural 
phenomena  themselves.  For  the  material  structure  of 
the  Ego  includes,  not  only  the  bones,  muscles,  and  vital 
organs ;  but  also  the  nervous  structure  as  well,  through, 
or  by  means  of  which,  all  the  psychical  phenomena 
occur.  This  nervous  structure  is  only  differentiated 
protoplasm,  of  which  the  whole  body  is  formed.  There- 
fore psychology  is  frequently  termed  a  branch  of 
physiology.  Jacques  Loeb,  in  his  "Physiology  of  the 
Brain."  contends  that,  in  function,  there  is  no  differ- 
ence between  muscular,  and  nervous  structure,  except 
in  facility  of  the  movement  of  its  component  molecules. 


218  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

It  seems,  the  further  experiment  is  carried,  the  greater 
the  evidence  for  unity,  in  both  function  and  structure. 
The  five  peripheral  senses  of  the  body  may  perhaps,  in 
ultimate  analysis,  be  reduced  to  one.  the  primal,  from 
which  all  the  others  have  been  evolved.  That  is  touch. 
The  eye,  and  the  ear.  are  morphologically  identical 
with  the  vibrissae,  or  most  perfect  organs  of  touch. 

Every  observing  individual  is  aware  of  the  extreme 
sensitiveness  of  touch,  in  all  parts  of  the  body.  Even 
on  the  soles  of  the  feet,  which  are  quite  thick,  a  par- 
ticle of  sand,  scarcely  perceptible  to  the  eye,  will  be 
instantly  felt  by  the  brain.  The  touch  at  the  end  of 
the  fingers,  and  at  the  end  of  the  tongue,  is  much  keener, 
and  that  of  the  eye  is  aroused  by  the  faintest  ray  of 
light.  Even  the  quality  of  a  substance  is  disclosed  by 
touching  it  with  a  stick  held  in  the  hand.  The  impres- 
sions are  carried,  through  the  inorganic  matter  of  the 
cane,  to  the  sensitive  skin  of  the  hand. 

An  individual  deprived  of  all  senses  except  touch,  in 
course  of  time,  by  repeated  experiment,  becomes  in  cor- 
respondence with  an  environment,  not  greatly  inferior 
to  that  of  all  the  senses.  This  has  been  explained  some 
pages  back,  as  the  result  of  the  brain  centers  of  the 
same  organs,  being  so  intimately  connected  by  wonder- 
ful complexes  of  nerve  fibres.  If  the  claim  of  Max 
Meyer  is  true,  that  the  ganglia  have  the  power  of  throw- 
ing out  new  threads  of  nerve  tissue,  under  strong  ex- 
citation, the  example  of  the  wonderful  development  of 
mind  in  Helen  Keller  by  education  through  touch  alone, 
is  thus  accounted  for.  Touch  can  well  be  called  con- 
sciousness. It  is  the  sense  that  is  not  specialized.  If 
the  other  four  senses  can  be  called  mere  modifications 
of  touch,  then  the  latter  may  be  designated  as  the 
method  of  the  organism's  correspondence  with  environ- 


SELF  219 

ment,  and  that  is  consciousness.  It  is  not  so  very  sur- 
prising then  that  Helen  Keller,  born  with  normal  sense 
organs,  and  therefore  having  a  complete  human  brain, 
and  long  after  birth  losing  the  use  of  the  sense  organs 
of  sight  and  hearing,  should  acquire,  through  touch 
alone,  such  a  marvelous  knowledge  of  objectivity.  A 
knowledge  of  everything  she  was  enabled  to  handle  is 
possible  to  her.  Touch  is  the  sensibility  to  pressure, 
weight,  muscular  resistance,  the  sense  of  feeling,  includ- 
ing the  sensibility  to  temperature.  The  sense  of  sight 
is  educated  to  the  vicarious  perception  of  form,  and 
perhaps  all  the  qualities  of  matter,  except  color,  by  the 
sense  of  touch.  The  marvelous  arrangements  through- 
out the  human  body  for  making  the  sense  of  touch  so 
extremely  acute,  show  how  important  natural  experi- 
ence, and  natural  selection  have  considered  the  evolu- 
tion of  this  all  pervasive  sense  is,  to  the  welfare  of  the 
human  organism.  Not  only  is  this  so  in  the  specializa- 
tion of  the  sense  of  touch  into  the  four  other  sense 
organs — sight,  hearing,  smelling  and  tasting — but  in 
evolving  in  certain  papillae  of  the  skin  small  tactile 
corpuscles  1/300  of  an  inch  long  and  1/800  of  an  inch 
thick  composed  of  connective  tissue,  and  supplied  with 
one  or  more  nerve  fibres,  which  are  branched  and  con- 
voluted within  the  corpuscle.  Remembering  that,  every 
point  of  the  periphery  of  the  body,  and  every  point  of 
the  inside  of  the  body,  is  the  location  of  the  arborescent 
receptive  end  of  a  nerve,  which  runs  to  some  ganglionic 
center,  which  is  also  connected  with  the  brain,  we  can 
see  how  completely  the  sense  of  touch  is  the  corre- 
spondence of  the  individual  with  objectivity,  and  there- 
fore is  consciousness. 

WHAT  Is  CONSCIOUSNESS. — It  is  said  above,  the  psy- 
chologists differ  in  regard  to  the  nature  of  "  conscious- 


220  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

ness."  James  says  that  consciousness,  as  a  metaphysical 
thing,  does  not  exist.  Calkins  says,  "  it  is  a  self,  conscious 
of  itself."  This  is  saying  it  is  a  metaphysical  thing. 
Others  say,  it  is  a  relation  of  objects.  It  seems  certain 
that  in  the  correspondence  between  the  organism  and  its 
environment,  or  between  the  brain  centers  and  the  object, 
the  only  thing  presented  to  the  brain  is  the  object.  This 
is  done  by  an  image.  The  subject  is  not  in  the  conscious- 
ness, to  the  perceiver  of  an  external  object,  that  is, 
while  the  attention  is  directed  to  an  object  outside  the 
psychical  device.  Whether  that  object  is  a  tree,  or  an 
idea,  or  a  problem,  or  the  effects  of  the  thinking  pro- 
cess, the  fact,  as  it  is  represented  to  the  brain,  is  the 
only  conscious  thing.  It  may  be  an  hallucination,  and 
not  true;  the  brain  "sees"  it  however  as  a  true  object. 
The  brain  may  see  it  as  an  hallucination  a  moment 
after.  But  the  hallucination,  followed  by  its  being  per- 
ceived, as  such,  are  both  real  to  consciousness,  the  one 
is  just  as  true  an  object  as  the  other.  Hallucinations 
are  images,  as  if  they  were  true. 

Other  definitions  of  consciousness  are :  ' '  Conscious- 
ness is  that,  by  which  an  object  perceived,  differs  in  that 
regard,  from  an  object  not  perceived." 

"Consciousness  is  the  virtual,  or  potential  presence  of 
an  object  at  a  place,  or  time,  in  which  it  is  not  actually 
present."  The  same  object  can  be  perceived  by  several 
persons  at  the  same  time,  or  several  objects  can  be  per- 
ceived at  one  time,  by  the  same  person.  But  it  seems, 
that  when  the  energy  which  carries  the  object  to  the 
perception,  produces  the  consciousness,  a  certain  time 
has  passed,  and  the  object  as  perceived,  is  not  in  the 
same  place,  nor  time,  as  it  actually  is.  So  that  it  is 
better  to  state,  that  consciousness  is  a  perception,  by 
the  brain,  through  the  senses,  of  an  object  entirely  made 


SELF  221 

up  of  phenomenal  attributes  once  existing,  which,  to 
the  perceiver.  is  reality.  Whether  we  see  a  real 
object  or  not,  what  we  do  see  suffices  for  actions  and 
needs.  It  provides  the  only  basis  for  our  reason,  judg- 
ment, memory,  and  life.  This  kind  of  correspondence 
with  environment,  which  Spencer  calls  "transformed 
reality,"  has  served  so  far  to  bring  mankind,  and,  in 
fact  all  life,  to  its  present  state  of  evolution  and  knowl- 
edge. We  do  not  seem  to  need  any  other.  If  we  did, 
the  necessary  evolution  of  it,  would  come  about. 

The  phenomenon  of  an  error,  or  hallucination,  so 
universal,  is  a  serious  problem  to  realists.  But  it  seems 
that  the  theory  of  the  materialist,  that  the  matter  of 
the  brain  is  the  producer  of  thought,  and  all  psychical 
phenomena,  and  that  its  normal  working  produces  the 
truth  for  that  brain,  and  its  abnormal  working  produces 
error,  or  hallucination — such  as  dreams,  mistaken  iden- 
tity, or  that  its  limitations  prevent  it  from  reaching  the 
whole  truth,  is  the  theory,  that  will  best  conciliate  the 
conflicting  contentions  of  naive  realists,  dualistic  real- 
ists, and  subjectivists.  In  other  words,  what  we  do  per- 
ceive is  real  to  us,  until  a  better  working  of  the  brain 
activities,  reveals  its  unreality.  The  science  of  episte- 
mology  will  always  be  only  in  the  making.  Perfection 
will  not  come.  The  very  nature,  of  the  apparatus  and 
method,  precludes  the  absolute  truths  about  it,  from 
being  perceived  by  the  present  brain  power  of  man. 

"One  is  never  conscious  at  all  without  an  awareness, 
however  vague,  confused,  unanalyzed  and  unexpressed 
of  one's  self, — being  conscious."  (Calkins.)  She  fol- 
lows this  with  a  parenthetic  statement,  that  this  is  her 
conclusion  from  introspection.  This  could  be  discovered 
only  by  introspection.  The  attention  must  be  directed 
to  the  process  of  thought,  in  introspection.  This  is 


222  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

making  it  an  object,  and  thus  whatever  comes  into  con- 
sciousness, in  doing  this,  exists.  Now  what  is  it  one 
perceives  thus?  It  is  only  the  body,  and  its  functions. 
This  does  not  occur,  when  the  attention  is  directed  to 
another  object — e.  g.  admiring  a  beautiful  landscape. 
Then  the  only  image  on  the  brain  is  the  object — land- 
scape. There  is  no  possibility  while  the  landscape  is 
the  consciousness,  that  "oneself — being — conscious"  can 
be  any  part  of  the  object.  But  if,  for  a  moment,  the 
attention  is  diverted  from  the  landscape  to  the  fact  of 
the  connection  of  the  individual,'  or  body,  with  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  landscape,  then,  for  that  moment,  con- 
sciousness of  the  landscape  ceases  and  another  object 
viz. :  the  connexion  spoken  of  above  takes  its  place.  The 
two  objects  may  alternate,  but  do  not  exist  simultane- 
ously. When  the  attention  is  directed  to  the  introspection, 
with  the  object  of  perceiving  the  "one's  self -being-con- 
scious ' '  what  does  he  perceive  ?  Not  the  process  going  on 
in  the  brain,  but  the  external  form  of  the  body  only,  and 
that  this  is  connected  in  some  way  with  the  object  that 
was  just  a  moment  before  imaged  on  the  brain.  There 
is  nothing  else,  that  one  can  perceive,  except  what  is 
already  known  as  psychology  viz. :  the  relation  of  the 
physiology  of  organism  with  certain  relations  in  the 
environment  between  objects;  and  this  is  consciousness. 
The  process  of  consciousness  is  never  an  object,  and 
therefore  cannot  be  perceived.  If  the  body  is  the  self, 
we  are,  of  course,  conscious  of  it,  when  the  senses  are 
directed  to  it,  but  what  does  not  come  through  the 
senses,  and  that  is  the  process  of  thought,  is  never  a 
part  of  consciousness.  A  self  is  conscious  of  itself  only 
to  this  extent.  If  a  self  is  anything  else  than  the  body, 
and  its  functions,  of  what  is  it  composed  and  is  it  pal- 
pable? 


SELF  223 

"We  have  no  direct  acquaintance  with  consciousness. 
We  are  aware  only  of  contents  apprehended,  never  of 
'the  process  to  which  this  apprehension  is  due.  We  may, 
of  course,  be  aware  of  the  steps  which  are  taken  in 
order  to  place  ourselves  in  a  proper  position,  or  mental 
attitude,  for  experiencing  a  content,  but  of  the  actual 
consciousness  of  the  content  we  have  no  awareness.  We 
have  experience  of  pleasure,  pain,  desire,  striving  and 
the  like.  These,  however,  would  seem  to  be,  in  all  cases, 
experiences  of  what  we  are  aware,  but  not  to  be  them- 
selves describable  as  awareness."  (Norman  Kemp 
Smith.)  This  word  content  does  not  seem  to  express 
the  fact  of  consciousness.  The  latter  is  a  condition  and 
not  a  thing,  or  receptacle.  It  is  not  a  cup  which  may 
be  filled  with  a  tangible  substance.  The  object  is  not  in 
the  mind,  but  the  act  of  thinking  of  the  object  is. 

"It  would  be  as  absurd  to  refuse  consciousness  to 
an  animal  because  it  has  not  brain,  as  to  declare  it 
incapable  of  nourishing  itself  because  it  has  no  stomach. 
*  *  *  This  amounts  to  saying  that  the  humblest  or- 
ganism is  conscious  in  proportion  to  its  power  to  move 
freely. ' '  (Bergson. ) 

But  in  another  place  Bergson  says  that  the  animal 
instinct  by  being  confined  to  the  use  of  the  organic 
tools  grown  with  its  body  has  but  one  choice  in  its 
action  upon  matter,  while  intelligence,  (intellect)  has 
several  choices,  and  that  the  difference  between  con- 
sciousness, or  mind  of  the  human  being,  and  the  animal, 
which  cannot  make  fire  and  tools,  is  one  of  kind,  not 
degree.  He  acknowledges  the  truth  of  evolution,  which 
must  mean  that  at  one  time  the  ancestors  of  man  had 
instinct  only.  At  what  point  in  his  evolution  did  the 
new  kind  of  consciousness  come  to  man?  When  he 
began  to  have  more  than  one  choice  in  his  method  of 


224 


action?  But  this  new  choice  came  with  enlarged  de- 
velopment of  the  same  nervous  matter  which  he  pos- 
sessed when  he  had  but  one  choice.  It  was  a  growth, 
in  larger  degree,  of  the  same  controlling  cerebrum 
which  he  has  always  possessed.  If  it  is  a  difference  in 
kind,  where  did  it  come  from?  In  such  cases  it  would 
not  be  an  evolution,  but  a  special  creation.  If  the 
latter,  out  of  what  was  it  created?  Is  Bergson  not  put- 
ting the  label  "New  Kind"  upon  the  enlargement,  by 
variation,  of  the  same  old  neural  canalization  of  proto- 
plasmic response  to  objective  stimulation?  In  evolution, 
every  organism  is  different  from  all  others,  in  degree 
only,  not  in  kind.  One  is  made  of  the  same  protoplasm 
and  simple  elements,  that  all  others  are. 

Nerve  molecular  motion  produces  a  relation  between 
objects.  This  relation  is  consciousness.  It  is  a  condi- 
tion produced  by  cerebral  activity.  If  consciousness 
is  anything  more,  than  the  arrangement,  or  metabolism 
of  the  living  molecules  in  the  brain,  what  becomes  of  it, 
when  it  is  temporarily  lost,  for  instance,  by  a  blow  on 
the  head,  and  when  by  a  surgical  operation  it  returns? 
Holmes  reasons  thus:  "A  man  is  stunned  by  a  blow, 
and  becomes  unconscious,  another  gets  a  harder  blow, 
and  it  kills  him.  Does  he  (the  latter)  become  uncon- 
scious too?  If  so  when,  and  how  does  he  come  to  his 
consciousness?  The  man  who  has  had  a  slight  and 
moderate  blow,  comes  to  himself  when  the  immediate 
shock  passes  off,  and  the  organs  begin  to  work  again, 
or  when  a  bit  of  skull  is  pried  up,  if  that  happens  to  be 
broken.  Suppose  the  blow  is  hard  enough  to  spoil  the 
brain,  and  stop  the  play  of  the  organs,  what  happens 
then?"  (Richard  A.  Proctor.)  Which  is  the  more 
reasonable  supposition,  that  the  entity,  that  does  the 
thinking,  "goes  off"  and  awaits  the  trepanning  in  the 


SELF  225 

one  case,  and  "goes  off"  and  never  returns  in  the  case 
of  no  returning  consciousness;  or  that  consciousness  is 
the  physical  process  of  molecular  motion  in  the  brain 
tissue?  It  ceases,  as  long  as  the  motion  of  molecules 
ceases,  and  is  "restored"  when  such  motion  is  resumed. 
But  if  the  molecular  motion  never  resumes,  then  there  is 
no  restoration  of  consciousness.  "Dual  consciousness," 
' '  bodily  illness, ' '  as  mental  stimulant,  ' '  somnambulism, ' ' 
"hypnotism,"  "dreams,"  all  subjects  of  abnormal  psy- 
chology, can  be  scientifically  explained  by  knowing  the 
exact  facts  of  each  case,  on  the  theory  that  psychic 
phenomena  are  the  products  of  physiological  function 
— that  consciousness  is  the  result  of  molecular  nerve 
action.  On  any  other  theory,  they  are  inexplainable. 
The  things  we  see  do  not  exist  in  consciousness.  They 
exist  only  where  we  perceive  them  to  be.  The  experi- 
ence, or  image  is  in  the  brain,  but  the  reality  producing 
the  impression  is  not. 

Descartes'  expression  "I  think  therefore  I  am"  is 
therefore  a  description  of  a  process  of  imaging  objec- 
tive things,  by  molecular  motion,  and  the  fusing  of 
images,  by  a  change  of  molecular  patterns,  on  the  brain. 
It  is.  a  passing  phase  of  function  of  matter.  Those 
immediate  experiences  that  the  individual  cannot  share 
with  others,  such  as  the  voices  heard  by  Joan  of  Arc, 
or  the  dreams  one  has,  may  be  called  subjective  condi- 
tions, because  if  they  were  objective,  others  would  also 
experience  them.  But  these  are  mostly  abnormal. 
"Immediate  experience"  is  a  condition  in  which  the 
only  conscious  thing  is  that  which  is  objective  to  con- 
sciousness. It  is  the  constant  awareness  from  moment 
to  moment.  The  working  of  the  device  which  is  pro- 
ducing consciousness  is  not  in  the  immediate  expe- 
rience of  the  thinker,  but  only  something  outside  of  it. 


226  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

Whatever  is  thought  about,  from  moment  to  moment, 
is  an  object,  even  if  it  be  introspection.  In  every  ex- 
perience, such  for  example,  as  listening  to  a  song, 
there  is  just  one  element  present  to  the  listener,  and 
that  is  the  song,  not  the  subjective  listener,  as  defined 
by  Descartes.  When  a  fact,  or  physical  thing  is  per- 
ceived, consciousness  consists  only  of  the  thing.  But  if 
the  attention  should  be  turned  from  the  fact,  or  thing, 
to  the  subjective  process,  then  the  latter  would  be- 
come immediaely  objective.  The  whole  process  is  part 
of  the  natural  order  of  the  universe,  the  same  as  other 
phenomena. 

The  meaning  of  pragmatism  is.  that  every  phenome- 
non should  be  interpreted,  by  the  human  brain,  as  to 
its  bearing  upon  the  welfare  of  man.  The  truth  is  that 
which  works  satisfactorily.  This  must  be  done  by  the 
methods  of  science,  not  by  dogmatism.  If  metaphysics 
is  appealed  to,  it  must  use  the  same  intellectual  method 
as  logic  and  mathematics,  or  the  inductive  process. 

The  physiology  and  the  anatomy  of  the  body  are  per- 
ceptible to  sight,  hearing,  taste,  touch  and  smell.  Touch 
is  most  largely  the  sense  of  self  feeling.  Pleasure  is 
the  harmonious  touch  of  all  function.  Touch  is  not 
confined  to  the  ends  of  our  fingers,  but  is  an  all-per- 
vasive sense,  located  in  some  degree  in  every  surface 
both  inside  and  outside;  and  pain,  which  is  the  alarm 
from  the  outposts  of  the  neural  fortress,  that  an  attack 
of  a  destructive  kind  is  being  made,  accentuates  the 
great  importance  of  the  sense  of  touch  to  the  organism. 
We  are  self  conscious  to  the  extent  only,  that  self,  or 
the  Ego,  is  objective  to  the  receptive  nerves  and  gang- 
lia. Whatever  parts  of  the  body,  or  their  functions, 
make  impressions  on  the  senses,  are  objective.  Almost 
every  function  of  the  body  is  part  of  consciousness,  if 


SELF  227 

not  in  its  physiology,  at  least,  in  the  effects  of  physiol- 
ogy. The  simple  emotions,  as  well  as  thoughts,  such  as 
fear,  hatred,  affection,  self-feeling,  and  sexual  emo- 
tions, are  manifested  by  physiological  marks  on  the 
organs  that  display  the  phenomena.  The  physical 
changes  constitute  emotion. 

SELF- CONSCIOUSNESS. — We  are  self-conscious  to  the  ex- 
tent only  that  we  can  study  with  our  sense  organs  the 
vital  functions  of  our  bodies.  Could  the  brain  form  a 
conception  of  the  real  nature  of  the  relation  between  the 
subjective  and  objective,  there  would  be  added  to  con- 
sciousness the  most  valuable  knowledge  it  could  obtain. 
To  know  just  how  the  different  forms  of  energy,  through- 
out our  environment  act  upon  the  great  central  plexus  of 
nerves,  called  the  encephalon,  in  the  way  they  do,  so  as 
to  produce,  what  we  call  consciousness,  would  give  the 
added  power  to  know  the  reality  itself.  At  present  we 
have  a  faint  vision  only,  of  the  apparatus,  by  which  the 
wonderful  phenomenon  is  accomplished,  but  cannot  pene- 
trate, with  our  vision,  the  abtruse  process,  except  in 
a  very  vague  and  indirect  method  of  the  anatomist 
and  physiologist,  principally  after  death.  The  psycholo- 
gist makes  a  working  hypothesis  also,  which  is 
serving  only  in  a  way  to  arouse  the  highest  forms  of 
intellectual  effort.  Now,  some  mental  philosophers  are 
reaching  out  to  find  a  workable  method,  beyond  intel- 
lect, that  is,  by  intuition  and  metaphysics.  These  latter 
they  are  compelled  to  treat  after  the  principle  of  all 
evolution,  that  is,  that  whatever  is  invoked,  it  must  be 
something  in  touch  with,  and  having  the  same  qualities, 
in  a  higher  degree,  of  the  existing  intellect  of  man. 
It  cannot  be  a  creation  of  a  power,  by  human  effort  of 
a  different  and  dissociated  kind,  independent  of  the 
natural  evolution  of  the  psychical  device. 


228  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

THE  PROCESS  NATURAL. — The  question  is  how  the 
excitation  of  the  receptive  nerve,  by  an  incident  force, 
proceeding  from  objects  in  the  environment  produces 
in  us  a  state  of  consciousness,  and  the  particular 
forms  of  psychical  phenomena,  called  conception,  rea- 
son, memory  and  will.  We  can  only  recognize  the 
physiological  marks  accompanying  these  phenomena. 
The  manifestations  are  objective.  When  the  images 
of  externality  are  formed  on  the  cortex  of  the  brain,  it 
is  done  by  a  natural  process  of  molecular  motion,  and 
results  in  consciousness.  It  is  also  a  passing  condition 
— "immediate  experience."  The  difference  between 
the  perception  of  one  person,  and  another,  of  the  same 
object,  as  well  as,  the  perception  of  an  imaginary  thing, 
not  seen  by  another,  can  be  called  subjective.  It  is 
this  excitation  of  the  nerve  tissue  of  the  brain  by  the 
incident  forces  of  objectivity,  and  the  process  of  the 
fusion  of  the  images  thus  formed,  that  is  the  thinking 
process.  "A  mind  and  its  experiences  are  realities 
that  are  presentable  to  sense,  as  the  brain,  and  its  ac- 
tions. In  that  respect  the  mind  and  experiences  are 
not  parallel  with  Nature,  but  a  part  of  it.  And  on 
the  other  hand  the  facts  of  nature  including  the  brain, 
whenever  they  are  phenomena,  are  not  parallel  with 
mental  phenomena,  but  a  part  of  them."  (W.  Mitchell.) 

Now,  coming  back  to  the  physical  marks  accompany- 
ing the  act  of  thinking,  they  are  very  clear  to  the  per- 
ception. 

"As  a  man  thinketh  in  his  heart,  so  is  he."  His 
thoughts  are  indicated  by  outward  acts,  in  the  motion 
of  the  muscles,  e.  g.,  in  speech,  or  in  written  language. 
If  not  in  either  of  these  -ways,  then  the  intensity  of 
them  can  be  determined  by  the  following  marks;  ex- 
pansion of  the  arteries  leading  to  the  brain,  and  the 


SELF  229 

consequent  increase  of  the  circulation  to  the  brain. 
These  accelerate  the  action  of  the  heart,  which  modifies 
the  whole  vascular  system ;  or  by  the  fixedness  of  the 
muscles,  controlling  the  eyes,  or  other  organs  of  sense. 

BRAIN  ACTIVITY  EXHAUSTING. — What  we  call  mental 
action  is  more  exhausting  of  the  metabolic  process 
of  the  physical,  or  digestive  system,  than  any  other 
labor  of  the  body.  The  more  intense  the  thinking  the 
more  rapid  is  the  flow  of  blood  to  the  brain.  Muscular 
tissue  is  heavily  stocked  with  a  large  reserve  of  glycogen, 
which  is  potential  energy,  while  the  nerve  tissue,  is  only 
served  with  this  reserve  from  the  muscular  tissue,  as 
it  is  wanted.  It  would  thus  appear  that  the  rest  of  the 
organism  is  there  for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  the 
nervous  system  with  the  energy  required  for  the  mental 
operations,  and  the  control  over  this  energy  is  given 
to  the  nervous  system.  The  body  tissues  will  exhaust 
themselves,  in  order  to  keep  the  brain  at  work,  as  is 
frequently  apparent  in  persons  of  weak  body  and  active 
mind,  all  the  sustentation  goes  where  it  is  summoned 
by  the  nervous  system,  to  the  brain,  at  the  expense  of 
mere  muscular  energy.  It  is  thus  that  disease  is  some- 
times a  stimulation  of  the  brain.  Some  wonderful  men- 
tal work  has  been  done  by  brains,  whose  poor  weak 
bodies  have  been  kept  exhausted,  in  supporting  in  vigor, 
a  healthy  brain.  In  starvation,  the  body  tissues  will 
exhaust  themselves  in  supporting  the  brain,  the  latter 
remaining  healthy,  until  the  vital  organs  of  digestion 
cease  to  operate.  However,  when  death  comes,  the  men- 
tal action  ceases  first,  but  only  on  account  of  the  ex- 
haustion previously,  of  the  flow  of  the  arterial  blood, 
charged  with  vital  energy,  to  the  brain. 

Cuvier  said:  "The  nervous  system  is,  at  the  bottom, 
the  whole  animal;  the  other  systems  are  .there  only  to 
serve  it." 


230  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

LANGUAGE  OF  THE  EMOTIONS. — All  the  emotions  can  be 
expressed  without  articulate  speech.  Laughter  is  the 
expression  of  joy,  weeping  of  grief,  smiling  of  pleasure, 
bodily  attitude  of  anger  or  fear.  These  emotions  are, 
more  or  less,  expressed  by  the  muscles  of  the  face. 

In  fact,  in  a  broad  sense,  the  signs  of  life  are  the 
marks  of  thought.  When  the  human  senses  become 
acute  enough,  they  will  perceive  every  thought  in  an- 
other, by  its  physiological  marks.  "It  is  right  then 
to  say  that  what  we  do  depends  upon  what  we  are; 
but  it  is  necessary  to  add,  that  we  are,  to  a  certain 
extent,  what  we  do,  and  that  we  are  creating  ourselves 
continually. ' '  ( Bergson. ) 

Should  these  physiological  manifestations  be  prevented, 
in  any  way,  as  by  pathological  conditions,  then  there 
would  be  no  thought;  and,  that  interference  with  them, 
in  any  degree,  would  in  the  same  degree  lessen  the  co- 
herency, and  perspicuity  of  the  thinking.  If  all  the 
data  of  consciousness  could  be  enumerated  from  the 
center  of  attention  at  any  moment  to  the  thousand 
things  in  the  margin,  or  subattentive  aurora  of  it,  it 
would  be  found,  that  all  are  objective,  and  come  through 
the  senses.  The  consciousness  of  one,  deprived  of  every 
sense  except  touch,  would  be  found  to  be  made  up  of 
sensations  coming  from  the  environment,  that  act  only 
on  that  sense.  Should  that  also  be  taken  away  there 
would  be  no  consciousness,  and  perhaps  no  life.  The 
word  function  explains  all  psychical  phenomena. 

BASIS  OF  THOUGHT. — It  will  be  found,  also,  that  the 
basis  of  thought  is  physical  necessity,  or  self,  or  race 
preservation.  Why  does  the  twining  vine  grow  its 
first  two  joints  rigid,  and  the  third  so  mobile  that  it  will 
vibrate  in  a  circle,  seeking  an  object  round  which  it 
can  twine?  Or,  why  does  the  rhizopod  contract,  and 


SELF  231 

appropriate  the  soluble  nutritious  particles,  coming  in 
contact  with  its  surface,  but  rejects  the  -insoluble,  and 
inorganic,  unless  it  is,  that  both  phenomena,  in  all 
essential  elements,  are  expressive  of  the  same  choice,  in 
less  degree  only,  as  man  makes,  in  his  reasoning  out  a 
civil  and  moral  code;  which  man  considers  essential  to 
his  physical  welfare;  the  same-  essentially  that  similar 
acts  by  man,  although  more  complex,  constitute,  what 
is  variously  expressed  by  the  words,  thought,  reason, 
memory,  will?  This  basis,  or  stimulus  to  all  thought, 
is  the  necessity  of  the  natural  preservation  of  the  or- 
ganism, or  of  the  race,  to  which  it  belongs. 

Whatever  an  organism  does,  has  at  the  bottom  this 
basic  motive.  Even  the  social  instincts  of  human  beings, 
bees  and  ants,  have  this  for  a  motive. 

There  are  certain  functions,  of  the  higher  brain, 
producing  abstractions,  and  generalizations,  whose  con- 
nection with  self,  or  race  preservation,  is  difficult  to 
trace.  But  there  is  a  connection.  Whoever  is  unself- 
ishly pursuing  truth  in  the  abstract,  is  doing  it  by  the 
compulsion,  or  tendency,  of  his  organism.  Truth  is 
essential  to  his  organized  brain  structure,  or  his  nerve 
structure  is  in  necessary  correspondence  with  a  higher 
environment,  in  which  truth  is  the  essential  thing.  He 
is  doing  it,  also,  for  the  benefit  of  the  physical  welfare 
of  the  race.  All  research,  in  whatever  domain,  is  at 
bottom,  the  finding  of  better  method  of  human  effort. 
To  the  devotee  of  esthetics,  the  beautiful  is  a  condition 
of  natural  existence,  or  at  least  of  social  existence  to 
him.  To  him  harmony,  in  sound  and  color,  is  necessary 
to  the  preservation  of  his  organism.  Whatever  a  man 
does,  seems  in  the  last  analysis,  to  have,  at  bottom,  the 
motive  of  preservation  of  either  self,  or  the  race.  The 
principal  is  very  apparent  in  all  commercialism  and 


232  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

industrialism.  It  is  not  so  apparent  in  art  or  in  poetry. 
Yet.  when  an  artist  paints  a  picture  like  the  Angelus, 
or  the  poet  composes  a  "Thanatopsis"  or  an  "Iliad," 
its  greatness  really  consists  in  its  lessons  of  true  life ; 
it  points  the  way  to  the  higher,  broader  and  deeper 
conceptions  of  man,  and  his  relations  to  his  fellows, — 
that  is,  it  shows  man  how  to  preserve  and  broaden  his 
life. 

All  esthetics,  music,  poetry,  the  drama,  the  limner's 
art,  like  science,  are  the  property  of  all  nations,  and 
however  diverse  the  languages,  these  works  of  art  have 
a  common  meaning,  and  universally  appeal  to  all  peo- 
ples. They  are  therefore,  a  universal  medium  for  the 
promotion  of  the  brotherhood  of  man ;  which  means, 
that  the  destructive  forces  of  human  life,  and  welfare, 
are  thus  greatly  modified,  and  will  be  finally  abolished. 
Therefore,  art  is  a  promoter  of  the  physical  welfare  of 
the  race.  The  physical,  economic  conditions  of  all 
forms  of  society, — the  municipality,  or  the  state,  or  the 
nation, — always  determine  the  political  policy,  and  give 
the  tone  to  its  organized  religions  also.  It  is  this  prin- 
ciple that  determines  the  difference  between  the  Asiatic 
and  European  countries.  England,  from  her  isolated 
position,  and  contracted  territory,  is,  for  that  reason, 
compelled  to  adopt  an  entirely  different  political 
policy,  from  that  of  Russia,  for  example.  The  political 
economy  of  a  nation  and  a  great  work  of  art  have  for 
their  common  basis,  that  in  proportion,  as  they  are 
faithful  to  the  laws  of  nature — exact  copies  of  natural 
truth — so  they  are  really  great. 

Auguste  Comte  in  his  positive  philosophy,  refused  to 
recognize  psychology,  as  a  science  distinct  from 
physiology.  The  reason  is  not  obscure.  It  is, '  that 
every  psychical  phenomenon  has  its  physiological  marks, 


SELF  233 

in  the  absence  of  which,  there  is  no  phenomenon.  The 
new  psychology  is  physiological.  The  old  was  meta- 
physical. Note  the  material  elements  of  a  Spencerian 
definition  of  an  idea.  "The  psychical  side  of  what, 
on  its  physical  side,  is  an  involved  set  of  molecular 
changes,  propagated  through  an  involved  set  of  nervous 
plexuses;  that  which  makes  possible  the  idea  is,  the 
pre-existence  of  these  plexuses, ' '  and  they  are  the  only 
part  of  the  phenomenon  that  persists.  The  assumption, 
that  there  is  any  other  element,  takes  the  statement  of 
it  out  of  the  realm  of  psychology,  or  science,  into  that 
of  metaphysics.  Spencer's  definition  of  an  idea  is  in- 
ductive, or  scientific.  Note  the  contrast  between  that 
and  Descartes'  definition,  in  which  the  physiological 
element  is  omitted.  Descartes  says:  "By  the  word 
idea,  I  understand  that  form  of  thought,  by  the  imme- 
diate perception  of  which  I  am  conscious  of  some 
thought."  No  scientific  definition  can  be  given,  except 
that  the  physiological  changes,  constituting  the  phe- 
nomenon, give  the  psychical  effect.  Descartes  meant 
that  self-consciousness — the  perception  of  the  thoiight 
— is  the  distinction  between  man,  who  has  a  "soul," 
and  an  animal  who  does  not  perceive  his  thoughts  and 
has  no  "soul."  But  why  should  an  idea,  or  its  defini- 
tion, be  confined  to  this  narrow  conception?  An  idea 
is  the  conclusion  of  thought,  a  conception  of  what  is 
best,  or  ought  to  be,  an  opinion. 

The  reason  why  the  physiological,  or  material  defini- 
tion of  thought  is  more  comprehensive,  is  that  it  em- 
braces the  idea  of  the  close  connection  between  all 
thought  and  life  preservation.  Whatever  appeals  to 
man's  physical  nature,  and  preservation,  is  better  un- 
derstood, than  an  abstract  idea  dissociated  from  any 
physical  connection. 


234  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

STRUCTURE  DETERMINES  DIFFERENCE. — The  thought  of 
one  man  is  different  from  that  of  another,  because 
either  the  brain  centers  are  different  in  construction, 
or  the  aptitude  of  the  original  cells,  to  throw  out  cross- 
associative  threads  making  new  connections,  is  greater 
in  one,  than  in  the  other.  The  differences  in  char- 
acter in  all  animals,  is  the  difference  in  physical  struc- 
ture. This  difference  produces  different  phases  of  in- 
tellect, and  emotion.  All  animals  are  characterized 
by  the  emotions,  and  whichever  one,  fear,  anger,  af- 
fection, or  self-feeling,  predominates,  gives  the  tem- 
perament. These  emotions,  in  the  lower  animals,  are 
unmodified,  or  very  little  modified,  by  the  brain,  or 
intellect.  But  in  man,  the  superior  quantity,  and  in- 
tensity, of  brain  matter,  puts  him  in  so  much  wider, 
and  more  complex  correspondence,  with  obscure  and 
complex  relations  in  his  environment,  that  the  im- 
pulses of  the  simple  emotions  are  greatly  modified,  or 
checked;  but  the  process,  in  both,  is  molecular  motion. 
That  form  of  consciousness  called  reason,  and  memory, 
seems  to  be,  merely  arrested  reflex  motion.  The  reflex 
arc  of  the  nervous  system,  in  lower  orders  of  animals, 
consists  of  a  receptive  nerve,  a  central  ganglion,  and 
a  motor  nerve  running  from  the  ganglion  to  the 
muscle.  The  motor  action,  or  the  emotion,  follows  im 
mediately  the  sensation.  In  the  nervous  system  of  man. 
there  is  the  same  unit  of  simple  reflex,  and  as  many,  or 
more,  simple  responses  to  sensory  stimulation,  without 
the  interposition  of  consciousness.  But  there  is,  also, 
the  large  ganglion  called  the  cerebrum,  into,  and  from 
which,  run  nerves,  in  continuation  of  the  simple  re- 
flex. Those  sensations,  too  complex  for  simple  reflexets 
to  solve,  pass  over  the  more  complex  arcs  into  the  brain 
centers. 


SELF  235 

The  emotions  and  impulses  are  inhibited,  or  modified 
by  these  higher  connections.  The  action  is  more  delib- 
erate. The  resulting  perception,  or  conception,  or  ab- 
straction, is  a  higher  phase  of  consciousness.  That  is, 
these  higher  centers  of  psychical  action  arrest  the  flow 
of  sensory  activity,  and  turn  it  from  the  motor  channel, 
into  the  ideational  centers.  The  psychical  result  is  a 
relation  called  consciousness.  It  is  the  physiology  of 
the  organism,  that  is  modified  by  the  difference  in 
structure,  and  at  the  same  time  there  is  a  correspond- 
ing difference  in  its  psychology. 

FREEDOM  OF  CHOICE. — Freedom  of  choice  makes  the 
real  difference  between  instinct  and  intelligence,  or 
reason.  In  instinct  nature  does  all,  in  reason  man 
does  much,  in  addition  to  what  nature  does  for  him. 
Instinct,  having  but  one  choice,  does  not  .hesitate,  it 
does  not  reason.  When  we  say  that  freedom  of  choice 
is  the  difference  between  instinct  and  intellect  we  state 
a  result  of  the  real  cause  of  the  difference.  The  real 
difference  is  in  the  complexity  of  the  cross  associative 
paths  in  the  brains  of  the  organisms.  Instinct  has  a 
limited  neural  complex,  compared  with  that  of  in- 
tellect. The  freedom  arises  only  when  new  short  cuts 
to  the  cerebrum,  from  the  sense  centers,  are  added  to 
the  old  reflex  arcs  of  instinct.  Freedom  is  a  result  of 
a  material  cause.  It  is  psychological,  while  the  cause 
is  physiological.  This  is  an  example  of  the  real  differ- 
ence between  psychology  and  physiology. 

Reason  is  arrested  reflex.  Consciousness  is  there- 
fore, the  interval  between  the  excitation  of  a  ganglion, 
and  the  action,  or  conclusion.  However,  no  sharp  line 
can  be  drawn  between  the  "mind"  of  animals  and  man. 
There  are  some  acts  of  animals,  that  show  remarkable 
hesitation  and  reason.  The  beaver,  for  example,  while 


236  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

confined  to  one  mode  of  cutting  down  a  tree,  by  his 
teeth  in  lieu  of  an  axe,  yet  when  the  tree,  in  order  to 
serve  the  purpose  of  its  cutting,  viz. :  to  become 
part  of  a  dam,  must  fall,  after  the  cutting,  in  a  par- 
ticular place,  the  beaver  cuts  the  tree  with  his  teeth, 
so  as  to  make  it  fall  where  he  wants  it  to  fall,  as  surely 
as  an  axrnan  could  do.  Both  of  these  acts  involve 
knowledge  and  reason.  If  there  is  a  difference,  it  is 
one  of  degree,  rather  than  kind.  As  Bergson  says : 
"So  long  as  consciousness  is  all  we  are  concerned  with, 
we  close  our  eyes  to  what  is,  from  the  psychological 
point  of  view,  the  cardinal  difference  between  instinct 
and  intelligence."  At  least  it  seems,  what  instinct 
does  is  for  the  best  welfare  of  the  life  represented  by 
it,  quite  as  much  so,  and  perhaps  oftener,  than  it  is, 
in  case  of  intelligence.  Both  are  hereditary,  and  there- 
fore both  must  be  the  results  of  evolution. 

At  least,  the  babe  which  seeks,  at  once,  uncon- 
sciously its  mother's  breast,  displays  just  the  same 
kind  of  intelligence,  that  the  atom  of  the  nebula  did, 
when  it  moved  unconsciously,  in  the  proper  direction 
of  condensation,  for  the  formation  of  a  universe,  in- 
stead of  in  the  wrong  direction,  by  dispersion.  The 
movement  of  the  babe,  so  unconscious,  and  fraught 
with  so  momentous  consequences  to  itself,  and  its 
race,  was  inherited  from  the  atom  of  the  far  away 
nebula, — the  instinct  and  intelligence  both,  of  doing 
the  right  thing  consciously,  or  unconsciously,  in  unison 
with  the  cosmic  movement,  in  the  evolution  of  the 
present  flux  of  duration,  called  the  universe. 

It  is  true,  the  intellect  has  more  than  one  choice  in 
its  manner  of  adjusting  the  ego  to  an  environment, 
which  it  is  unable  to  control  in  the  least  degree.  This 
adjustment  is  very  limited.  It  seems  to  be  confined  to 


SELF  237 

a  remarkably  small  number,  of  the  infinitely  large 
number,  of  phenomena.  The  response  of  the  ego  to 
these,  is  limited  to  the  range  of  the  five  organs  of  sense. 
There  is  an  infinite  number  of  phenomena,  in  the  imme- 
diate and  remote  environment,  of  which  the  ego  is 
entirely  unconscious.  Such  an  ego  being  a  phenomenon 
itself,  could  not  penetrate  behind  the  manifestations. 
It  even  seems  to  be  far  inferior  in  power,  to  some  of 
the  other  phenomena.  For  instance,  matter  and  motion, 
in  the  transformation  of  a  -nebula,  to  the  present 
status  of  the  universe,  has  produced  in  physics,  the 
harmony  of  the  stellar  bodies,  in  chemistry,  the  atmos- 
phere and  water,  and  the  transforming  of  the  light  of 
the  sun,  which  falling  on  leaves  and  flowers,  reappears 
as  life.  Whether  the  true  theory  of  light  is  that  of 
Newton, — the  corpuscular ;  or  that  of  Huygens, — the 
wave,  yet  we  know  it  conveys  to  us  by  photography, 
and  the  spectrum,  information  of  the  remote  parts  of 
the  universe,  beyond  the  power  of  any  other  known 
form  of  matter  and  motion  to  convey.  It  is  true,  before 
man  can  interpret  these,  he  must  have  a  nervous 
power;  yet  power  of  nerve  tissue,  or  thought,  or  any 
psychic  phenomenon,  is  tame  in  comparison  with  this 
phenomenon.  And  these  material  phenomena,  from 
which  the  brain  of  man  derives  so  much  knowledge, 
must  have  been  in  operation  just  as  they  now  are,  ages 
before  there  was  an  Ego. 


CHAPTER  IX 
ETHICS   AND   ALTRUISM 

IT  having  been  contended,  so  far,  that  life,  in  the 
aggregate,  is  a  differentiated  form  of  phenomena, 
whose  evolution  has  occurred  by  precisely  the  same 
method,  as  all  other  evolution,  the  relation  that 
all  forms  of  it,  bear  to  each  other,  as  well  as  to  the  ag- 
gregate, must  be  governed  by  the  same  fundamental 
natural  laws.  The  phases  of  this  relationship  are  of 
such  infinite  variety,  that  to  undertake  to  formulate  a 
conscious  duty  by  man,  adapted  to  each  variation,  would 
evidently  be  impossible ;  nor  would  such  formal  category 
be  useful.  A  human  adjustment,  that  must  be  eventual- 
ly readjusted,  to  conform  to  local  needs,  just  as  the  ideas 
of  man  change,  as  the  centuries  go  by,  or  as  the  brain 
power  increases,  is  the  only  progression,  that  gives  in- 
creasing strength  and  more  persistence. 

This  does  not  mean  that  these  readjustments  should, 
or  do  occur  in  the  lifetime  of  one  individual.  They  are 
made,  at  very  long  intervals,  and  are  so  inconspicuous 
and  harmonious  that,  unless  science,  or  history  mentions 
them,  they  remain  unnoticed.  They  are  not  catastrophic. 

Therefore,  it  is  better  to  state  the  principle  that  most 
obviously  lies  at  the  bottom  of  this  perpetual  readjust- 
ment; and  then,  if  that  principle  is  correctly  stated,  it 
will  be  the  human  guide  in  those  conscious  situations, 
daily  presenting  themselves  to  the  individual  for  solu- 
tion, and  adaptation,  wherever  and  under  whatever  con- 
ditions he  may  exist.  A  general  statement  of  this  prin- 
ciple would  be,  in  an  all  covering  sense,  that  man's 
natural  ethics  is  his  normal  adjustment  to  environment, 

238 


ETHICS    AND    ALTRUISM  239 

human  and  nonhuman.  "Normal  adjustment"  here 
means  the  relative  power  of  the  brain  to  comprehend 
phenomena,  and  keep  in  necessary  correspondence  with 
them.  It  is  necessary  to  be  borne  in  mind,  that  man 
is  a  part  of  phenomena.  It  is  plain  that  such  ethics  will 
greatly  vary  throughout  the  world.  This  definition  it 
will  be  observed,  is  also  precisely  the  definition  of  psych- 
ology, of  evolution,  and  of  life  itself.  This  fact  preserves 
the  continuity  of  thought  upon  all  vital  subjects.  In  the 
treatment  of  universal  evolution  it  is  thus  found  that 
whatever  division  may  be  made  of  the  physical,  or 
psychical  phases  of  organisms,  for  the  purpose  of  an- 
alyses and  study  of  their  processes,  they  are  so  intimately 
unified  that  the  scientific  definition  of  one  phase,  is  that 
of  all,  and  of  the  whole  as  a  unit.  This  is  not  only  the 
principle  of  evolution  in  the  organic  realm,  but  also  of 
the  inorganic.  The  universe  is  a  unit.  While  the  brain 
of  man  does  not  comprehend,  in  a  complete  conception, 
the  whole  in  one  idea,  yet  he  dissects  the  parts,  in  his 
immediate  environment,  manufactures  tools  to  bring  his 
sense  organs  nearer  to  other  parts,  and  thus  discovers 
the  laws,  in  sufficient  amplitude  to  satisfy  his  intellect. 
He  finds  that  every  phase  of  it  has  a  moral  bearing 
upon  himself.  This  oneness  of  type  and  definition  in 
natural  inorganic  and  organic  phenomena  has  a  very 
profound  significance.  It  means  monism.  What  is  true 
of  one  natural  phenomenon  is  true  of  every  other.  A 
conception  of  evolution,  in  life  forms,  such  as  Darwin 
has  formulated,  if  true  will  be  satisfactory  evidence,  to 
the  real  student  of  physics,  of  the  same  evolution 
throughout  nature.  It  is  exceedingly  strong  evidence 
against  dualism. 

The  statements  in  this  chapter,  regarding  the  morali- 
ties of  different  communities,  throughout  the  world,  by 


240  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

which  they  naturally  adjust  themselves  to  each  other  as 
individuals,  and  to  their  natural  environment,  are  purely 
historical.  In  no  sense,  are  they  intended,  as  an  ideal 
code,  approved  by  the  writer.  They  merely  form  a  his- 
torical presentation  of  what  seems  to  be  a  law  of  nature. 
The  whole  theory  of  universal  evolution,  is  a  fact,  not  as 
a  sympathic,  benevolent  person,  imbued  with  the  tenets 
of  Christianity,  would  desire  it  to  be,  but  as  an  evident 
law  of  nature. 

As  there  is  no  absolute  standard  of  truth,  nor  of 
beauty,  so  there  is  no  absolute  standard  of  morals,  be- 
cause every  phenomenon  apparent  to  man  is  relative, 
limited,  at  least  to  time  and  space,  presenting  a  different 
impression  to  different  individuals;  so  it  is  evident  that 
the  only  code  of  morals  that  can  be  more  applicable, 
than  any  other,  is  that  based  upon  man's  relation  to 
phenomena,  especially  to  his  fellow  men  and  society. 
While  his  relation  to,  or  more  properly  his  correspond- 
ence with  nature,  and  its  laws,  can  be  comparatively 
stable,  and  fixed,  when  once  such  laws  are  understood, 
yet  his  correspondence  with  his  fellow  man,  and  society, 
will  be  more  or  less  modified  by  the  very  mobile  varia- 
tions of  social  customs,  and  laws,  according  to  locality, 
which  create  that  peculiar  emotional  condition  in  every 
individual,  called  conscience.  This  can  also  be  called, 
shame,  remorse,  or  regret,  which  acts  as  a  stronger  con- 
trol of  motor  action,  than  does  the  ordinary  intellect. 
This  is  the  public  opinion  in  communities.  Whatever 
the  public  opinion  requires  is  historically  moral  for  it, 
whether  it  is  the  fighting  of  a  duel,  the  murdering  of  a 
witch,  the  keeping  of  plural  wives,  or  the  worship  of 
an  idol.  But  the  principle  itself  is  universal,  not  local. 

The  customs  that  are  deemed  moral,  or  immoral,  in 
one  community,  may  be  viewed  inversely  in  another. 


ETHICS    AND    ALTRUISM  241 

The  same  principle  will  apply  to  the  standard  of  beauty. 

Darwin,  in  "Descent  of  Man"  says  in  regard  to 
beauty:  "The  men  of  each  race  prefer  what  they  are 
accustomed  to,  they  cannot  endure  any  great  change; 
but  they  like  variety;  and  they  like  each  characteristic 
carried  to  a  moderate  extreme."  The  African  greatly 
admires  a  black  skin,  flat  nose,  and  colored  teeth;  the 
European  altogether  a  different  type,  and  the  American, 
and  Malay  still  others. 

As  Kautsky  says,  ' '  Prison,  poverty,  and  death  are  pre- 
ferred by  people  to  shame.  Kautsky  also  quotes  some 
curious  letters  of  a  converted  Esquimo.  For  instance, 
"My  country-men  know  nothing  of  either  God  or  Devil 
and  yet  they  behave  respectably,  deal  kindly,  and 
forcibly  with  each  other,  tell  each  other  everything,  and 
create  their  means  of  subsistence  in  common."  This  is 
a  natural  morality. 

Nansen  says  of  the  Esquimo  life,  "One  of  the  most 
beautiful  and  marked  features  in  the  character  of  the 
Esquimo  is  certainly  their  honorableness. "  Honorable- 
ness  means  their  morality. 

There  are  two  phases,  of  man's  correspondence  with 
environment,  that  should  be  considered  in  the  treatment 
of  any  natural  ethics.  The  first  is  man's  relation  to  the 
forces  of  nature,  as  such.  This  relationship  is  purely 
intellectual,  and  not  moral,  in  the  current  definition  of 
the  word  moral.  Yet  in  one  aspect,  it  has  a  most  de- 
cided moral  bearing. 

Unless  man  conceives  the  truth,  regarding  the  material 
facts  of  the  universe,  and  its  laws,  he  cannot  properly 
adjust  his  organism  to  his  environment.  He  cannot  for- 
mulate a  correct  philosophy.  This  is  illustrated,  by  the 
delusions  under  which  all  mankind  were  struggling,  in 
regard  to  astronomy,  prior  to  the  discoveries  of  Coperni- 


242  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

cus,  and  Galileo.  Before  Newton  mathematically  de- 
monstrated the  truth  of  the  attraction  of  gravitation, 
even  Kepler,  who  formulated  the  laws  of  planetary  mo- 
tions, thought  that  the  stars  were  held  in  place  by  an 
angel  at  each  one.  Prior  to  Darwin,  there  was  merely  a 
vague  idea  here  and  there,  as  shown  heretofore  in  these 
pages,  of  the  origin  of  species. 

So  that,  until  man  comes  into  correct  relation,  in- 
tellectually, with  what  is  termed  the  physical  laws  of 
nature,  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  he  could  form  a 
natural  code,  that  would  ba  at  all  adapted  to  his  need 
of  a  desirable  correspondence  with  his  physical  environ- 
ment. Ignorance  is  a  strong  support  of  immorality. 

The  same  conclusion  drawn  above  from  the  errors  in 
astronomy  and  physics,  will  apply  to  man's  conception 
of  other  branches  of  science,  such  as  biology,  chemistry, 
anatomy,  and  physiology.  The  proper  care  of  his  body 
is  a  question  of  hygiene  very  largely,  but  as  its  condi- 
tion affects  his  offspring  also,  there  is  thus  a  moral  bear- 
ing, to  his  treatment  of  even  his  own  body.  Hence,  the 
necessity  of  considering  man's  relation  to  inorganic  na- 
ture, as  not  altogether  intellectual  and  unmoral.  To 
some  extent,  in  every  thing  a  man  does,  from  the  un- 
conscious act  of  breathing,  up  to  the  highest  thought 
produced  by  the  molecular  motion  of  the  brain  tissue, 
there  is  a  right,  or  moral,  way  to  do  it.  The  man  who 
breathes  correctly  is  doing  more  good  to  his  body,  than 
he  would  do,  by  abnormal  breathing.  The  assimilation 
of  food,  the  walk,  the  manner  of  wearing  clothes,  the 
expression  of  the  face,  the  articulation  of  words,  even 
the  selection  of  the  proper  words  in  speech,  all  have  an 
ethical  bearing.  If  these  are  well  done,  it  means  that 
they  fit  into  the  noiseless  correspondence. — the  life, — of 
the  organism,  and  its  surroundings;  the  individual  thus 


ETHICS    AND    ALTRUISM  243 

preserves  his  normal  correspondence  with  physical  en- 
vironment, and  an  attractive,  not  repelling,  attitude  to 
his  fellow  men.  But  if  they  do  not  harmonize  with  the 
environment,  then  they  are  evil, — immoral,  and  the  vio- 
lator, as  well  as  the  violated,  suffers  some  pain,  or  un- 
happiness. 

The  laws  of  nature,  which  are  also  those  of  evolution, 
are  unchangeable  in  their  method ;  therefore,  man 's  wel- 
fare, his  morality,  consists  in  adapting  himself  to  these 
laws.  This  he  cannot  do  without  understanding  them  in 
a  scientific  way.  That  is,  by  a  knowledge  shorn  of  all 
its  fanciful,  and  mystical  aspects. 

The  man  who  so  controls  his  functions,  as  to  meet  all 
the  varying  phases  of  climate,  gravitation,  sustentation, 
etc.,  is  not  injured,  but  benefited  by  them.  An  indirect 
benefit  is,  that  the  effort,  the  exertion,  he  thus  makes, 
develops  him  into  a  self-reliant  and  powerful  organism. 
Figuratively  speaking,  nature  can  make  no  mistakes,  and 
does  absolutely  right  at  all  times.  Everything  it  does 
is  not  only  absolutely  right,  but  it  does,  in  every  in- 
stance, that  which  is  for  the  best  and  moral  welfare  of 
man  himself.  Whoever  is  in  normal  attitude,  toward 
his  environment,  would  not  be  wishing  for  rain  when  it 
is  dry,  nor  for  cold  weather  when  it  is  hot.  He  will  be 
perfectly  satisfied  with  whatever  comes,  because  he  will 
be  in  proper  correspondence  with  it,  and  will  know  he 
cannot  change  it. 

The  difference  in  the  moral  codes  of  the  world  is  de- 
termined by  these  differences  in  intelligence.  It  is  a 
gradation  of  intelligence  and  morals  from  savagery  to 
civilization.  That  people  who  takes  the  correct  view  of 
nature  and  her  laws,  has  a  higher  code  of  morals,  than 
the  people  who  takes  an  incorrect  view. 

DEATH. — A  perfect  man,  if  such  an  organism  were 


244  UNIVEKSAL    EVOLUTION 

possible,  would  be  in  perfect  correspondence  with  all  the 
requirements  of  natural  law;  and  death  to  him,  which 
is  a  cessation  of  correspondence,  would  then  be  postponed 
to  the  latest  moment  compatible  with  the  welfare  of  the 
race,  and  then  would  be  regarded,  as  it  really  is,  only  a 
change  of  form.  The  survival  after  death  of  all  bodily 
elements,  and  the  perpetuation  of  the  race,  constitute  an 
immortality  which  is  natural,  and  does  not  require  a 
miracle  to  make  it  possible. 

The  body,  and  its  qualities,  being  the  products  of  in- 
destructible matter,  and  the  persistence  of  energy,  death 
simply  changes  the  form  of  it  back  to  these  original  ele- 
ments, and  probably,  they  come  together  again,  under 
favorable  conditions,  and  form  a  new  body  similar  in 
kind,  but  not  conscious  of  the  former  body.  This  im- 
mortality is  entirely  confined  to  the  earth. 

Death  is  nowr  regarded  as  a  calamity,  although  an  in- 
evitable natural  law.  But  in  the  ultimate  analysis  of  it, 
there  will  be  found  this  essential  definition ;  it  is  the  clos- 
ing of  the  correspondence  between  the  organism,  and  its 
environment,  by  reason  of  that  organism's  violation  of 
some  of  the  essential  laws  of  that  correspondence,  or  from 
the  necessity  of  race  maintenance,  under  the  law  of  the 
survival  of  the  fittest.  If  men  everywhere  viewed  death 
in  this  light,  there  would  be  more  attention  paid  to 
physiology  and  hygiene,  and  the  death-rate  would  be 
largely  reduced.  This  is  another  instance  of  the  moral 
bearing  of  man's  attitude  toward  nature  at  large. 

In  death  the  elements  of  the  organism  are  dissipated 
and  transformed;  but  not  lost.  But  the  objective  en- 
vironment remains  the  same.  Nature  is  not  affected  by 
the  death  of  organisms.  The  inorganic  remains  uncon- 
scious of  that  event,  which  is  so  dreaded,  but  certain,  to 
the  organic.  There  is  a  seeming  eternal  round  in  the 


ETHICS    AND    ALTRUISM  245 

flow  of  phenomena,  in  the  condensation  of  matter  into 
organic  forms,  the  development  of  them  by  growth,  and 
their  return  to  the  inorganic.  So  that  birth  and  death 
are  merely  natural  phases  of  universal  evolution. 

Death  therefore,  when  it  occurs  naturally,  is  not  a 
calamity,  nor  a  thing,  in  the  abstract,  to  be  regretted. 
The  attitude  of  mankind  toward  this  necessary  step  in 
evolution  is  not  according  to  the  best  reason. 

Of  course,  this  definition  of  death  makes  it  an  es- 
sential link  in  the  method  of  evolution.  But  its  occur- 
rence too  early  in  life,  if  caused  by  preventable  violation 
of  physical  laws,  is  a  sign  of  a  certain  phase  of  immoral- 
ity, and  can  be  avoided  by  a  wise  system  of  education, 
in  physiology  and  hygiene.  Death  from  old  age  can  per- 
haps be  thus  postponed  to  a  later  average  date,  than  it 
now  occurs. 

In  Egypt,  death  in  whatever  form  was  considered  by 
the  priests  an  assassination.  From  their  standpoint,  it 
was  the  act  of  man,  an  animal,  or  a  spirit,  or  of  a  God. 
It  was  not  a  natural  phenomenon.  This  idea,  in  a 
modified  form,  is  still  held  by  civilized  people.  It  was 
the  province  of  biological  science  to  discover  that  it  is 
a  natural  process,  that  can  be  regulated,  as  to  time,  to 
a  very  great  extent,  by  man  himself,  when  his  intelligence 
is  brought  into  accord  with  what  his  attitude  should  be 
to,  and  correspondence  with,  the  laws  of  nature  and  be- 
ing. This  refers  to  the  method  of  education  in  the 
natural  sciences.  Man's  mental  powers  are  so  limited, 
that  this  method  has  not  always  given  true  knowledge. 
But  an  immense  advance  has  been  made  in  astronomy 
by  the  discoveries  of  Copernicus,  but  not  until  the  16th 
century;  in  geology,  not  until  Lyell,  in  the  19th  cen- 
tury ;  in  biology,  not  until  Darwin  in  1859.  There  is  no 
other  method  known  that  has  given  so  much  knowledge 


246  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

to  man,  of  those  essential  phenomena,  with  which  man's 
life  is  so  connected,  and  on  which  he  must  rely  for  his 
existence.  This  is  especially  so  in  anatomy,  chemistry, 
physiology  and  medicine,  and  just  as  essentially  so,  in 
morals. 

The  neglect  of  society  to  avail  itself  of  sanitary 
measures  is  the  highest  immorality.  It  seems  then,  that 
the  highest  code  of  ethics  will  be  based  on  this  necessity 
of  maintaining  a  rational  correspondence  with  physical 
environment,  as  one  phase  of  its  composition.  Education 
should  be  directed  to  that  end.  Perfection  may  never 
come;  but  we  can  make  an  immense  advance  beyond 
our  present  ignorance  of  this  great  truth.  This  phase 
of  a  code  is  not  included  in  the  existing  code.  It  does 
not  say  as  an  eleventh  commandment,  "He  who  remains 
ignorant  of  the  evident  laws  of  nature  is  on  the  road  to 
an  early  death. "  It  is  apparent  that  such  is  the  natural 
law,  because  men  are  dying  daily  on  account  of  prevent- 
able conditions.  They  are  being  overwhelmed  by  earth- 
quakes, tide  waters,  floods,  and  epidemics,  because  they 
are  not  in  intellectual  correspondence  with  the  physical 
forces  producing  these  things.  Therefore  an  important 
commandment  of  the  code  should  be  "Strive  to  master 
the  laws  of  physics." 

MAN,  A  NATURAL  PRODUCT. — When  man  shall  fully 
understand  the  principle  of  evolution,  he  then  only, 
will  begin  to  comprehend  that  he  is  not  a  stranger  to  his 
environment.  As  soon  as  he  shall  become  convinced,  that 
he  is  not  a  manufactured  article,  set  down  from  an  un- 
known region,  into  a  strange  country,  for  a  short  stay 
only ;  but  that  his  organism  is  evolved  out  of  his  habitat ; 
that  every  apparent  thing  organic,  or  inorganic,  is  akin 
to  him,  composed  of  the  same  material,  shaped  by  the 
same  force,  and  governed  by  the  same  laws,  he  will  then 


ETHICS    AND    ALTRUISM  247 

begin  to  formulate  a  new  ethical  code,  and  a  new  phil- 
osophy. He  will  look  around,  to  see  what  can  be  done  to 
increase  his  correspondence  with  this  kindred  environ- 
ment. Proficiency  in  biology  and  kindred  science  will 
teach  him,  that  his  pedigree  reaches  back  to  the  very 
beginning  of  the  universe ;  that  the  interaction  of  matter 
and  motion,  beginning  with  the  atoms  of  the  nebula, 
continuing  in  the  molecule,  in  the  crystal,  and  the 
sphere,  did  not  produce  a  unit,  mobile  and  adaptable 
enough  to  enter  into  the  formation  of  organic  life,  until 
the  alembic  of  perhaps  untold  eons  had  refined  the 
matter,  by  the  immeasurable  heat,  and  chemical  action, 
of  an  evolving  universe. 

If  there  was  any  beginning  to  life,  it  was,  when  the 
laboratory  of  nature  had  worked  upon  the  material  long 
enough  to  first  produce  the  universe,  as  we  now  see  it, 
before  the  organic  unit,  now  called  a  cell,  could  be 
evolved,  and  from  that  previous  product  of  Nature's 
refinery,  man  finds  himself  evolved,  by  the  same  slow 
process  of  growth  and  elimination. 

What  dignity  and  nobility  does  this  hypothesis  give 
to  man!  It  makes  him  the  apotheosis  of  cosmic,  not 
personal  forces.  He  is  the  product  of  the  ages,  and  akin 
to  all  that  has  gone  before.  There  is  not  only  reason, 
and  dignity,  in  this  view  of  the  place  of  man  in  the  uni- 
verse, but  warmth  and  glow,  which  no  other  hypothesis 
can  give. 

This  view  of  man  makes  him  a  product  of  nature. 
He  comes  from  the  matter  of  the  earth,  which  is  the 
same  as  that  of  the  universe,  and  his  mental  power  is 
thus  derived. 

This  natural  derivation  of  man  means,  that  the 
human  organism,  as  it  is  now  developed,  was  evolved 
phylogenetically,  from  an  order  of  lower  organisms, 


248  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

which,  when  traced  back  scientifically  terminates,  at 
its  primitive  end,  in  the  inorganic,  or  that  it  always 
existed  as  life,  in  some  form.  When  this  line  is  traced 
back  ontogenetically,  it  is  found  to  begin,  as  an  embryo, 
in  the  form  of  mere  protoplasm,  or  animal  life  of  a 
very  low  order ;  that  not  until  evolution  has  produced 
a  nerve  structure,  does  it  exhibit  the  higher  phenomena 
of  life  called  psychic.  Its  basis,  therefore,  is  in  the 
physical,  and  its  very  power  of  existence  and  therefore, 
all  its  mental  and  moral  force,  depends  upon  its  draw- 
ing its  life  sustentation  from  the  earth.  Here  and 
there  only.  e.  g.,  in  the  writings  of  Darwin.  Spencer 
and  Huxley,  in  the  history  of  man,  has  it  cropped  out, 
that  he  is  at  all  a  natural  product.  The  family, 
society,  and  government  are  crystallized  around  the 
conception,  that  the  universe  is  a  personal  emanation, 
and  under  personal  laws. 

Whatever  finality  the  imagination  may  attribute  to 
phenomena,  it  is  evident,  to  the  senses  of  man,  that 
nature  itself  is  the  immediate  power  that  holds  the 
fate  of  man  in  its  grip.  That  works  by  certain  uniform 
and  unchangeable  laws.  But  these  laws  can  be  known 
by  man.  He  can,  by  such  knowledge,  not  change  these 
laws,  but  can  adapt  the  stream  of  his  life  to  them,  in 
such  a  way,  as  to  have  them  serve  his  needs  and 
desires  in  a  life  prolonged  by  this  knowledge,  made 
sweet  and  pleasant.  This  is  true  righteousness.  The 
reverse  side  of  this  is  ignorance. 

Ignorance  is  a  struggle,  aided,  not  by  intelligence,  but 
superstition,  not  in  the  direction  of  light,  but  toward 
darkness.  Intelligence  takes  the  right  path  out  of  the 
jungle,  where  lie  so  many  enemies ;  but  ignorance  circles 
within  its  borders,  and  early  falls  a  victim  to  these 
enemies,  long  after  intelligence  has  escaped,  and  pursued 


ETHICS    AND    ALTRUISM  249 

a  new  path  of  health  and  happiness,  to  a  natural  ter- 
mination, which  it  welcomes  as  a  relief  from  further 
wearisome  pursuit  of  happiness.  The  difference  between 
the  career  of  the  two,  above  depicted,  is  the  natural 
morality,  immanent  in  a  well  adapted  organism. 

MAN'S  RELATION  TO  His  FELLOW  MAN. — The  second 
phase  of  a  natural  code  of  ethics,  is  man's  relation  to 
his  fellow  man,  as  a  part  of  his  general  environment. 
In  reality,  the  former  relation, — that  to  nature  at  large, 
— is  one,  rather  of  adaptation  and  defense.  In  that  part, 
the  questions  generalized  into  the  golden  rule,  viz., 
altruism,  justice,  mercy,  love,  etc.,  do  not  properly  arise. 
The  treatment  we  receive  from  the  laws  of  nature  is  only 
justice,  in  a  very  abstract  sense;  the  fact  being,  that  all 
are  served  alike  in  proportion  to  intelligence.  But  mercy, 
love,  and  the  beatitudes  do  not  seem  to  enter  into  it,  in 
the  personal  sense  of  those  terms,  as  they  do  in  the  rela- 
tions between  mankind.  Impersonal  cosmic  power  has 
not  the  same  warm  grip  upon  the  consciousness  of  man, 
as  has  the  personal  power,  exerted  by  men,  toward  each 
other.  It  is  only  in  the  associations  of  men,  and  the  rela- 
tions growing  out  of  these,  that  a  code  of  natural  ethics 
evolves,  which  includes  those  conditions  resulting  from 
attributes  peculiar  to  animal  life,  such  as  fear,  love, 
anger,  and  the  sexual  emotions.  This  personal  code,  in- 
cludes the  altruistic,  which  is  characteristic  of  all  animal 
life,  having  nervous  structure. 

Of  all  animals,  man  is  the  least  physically  able  to  sup- 
ply his  own  wants.  Therefore  some  kind  of  co-operation 
with  his  fellow  man  became  a  necessity  to  primitive  man, 
and  this  has  continued  to  the  present  time.  Only  animals 
with  great  power  of  supplying  their  wants  can  live  in 
solitude.  This  weakness  in  man  is  the  very  element,  that 
has  worked,  and  is  still  working,  not  only  for  his  higher 


250  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

morality,  but  also  for  the  most  subtle  altruism.  It  has 
caused,  also,  the  greater  growth  of  his  brain  and  psy- 
chical device.  These  have  rendered  him  far  superior  to 
other  animals  in  his  acquired  powers  of  defense  and  sup- 
port. The  morality,  altruism  and  intellect  are,  therefore, 
natural  evolutions  from  the  physical  nature  of  man.  If 
sociality  is  essential  to  his  proper  sustentation,  and  de- 
fense against  enemies,  the  increase  of  the  number  who 
stand  together  for  these  purposes  should  increase  the 
tenacity  with  which  they  stand  together,  and  render 
the  aggregate  body  more  weighty  and  enduring;  and 
thus  evolve  a  natural  civilization.  If  all  mankind  should 
stand  mutually  on  the  same  moral  and  intellectual  basis, 
that  would  be  the  brotherhood  of  man. 

The  necessity  for  men  to  combine  in  societies  for  mu- 
tual protection  and  advancement  compels  them  to  adopt 
such  laws  and  customs  as  will  promote  the  public  welfare, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  happiness  of  the  individuals. 
It  is  easy  to  trace  to  this  fact  the  evolution  of  love  of 
man  for  his  wife  and  children,  and  to  a  less  degree  of 
his  fellow  men  in  general;  hence  the  evolution  of  the 
gens,  the  tribe,  the  confederation,  the  state,  and  the 
nation,  in  succession;  hence  patriotism,  and  all  virtues. 
The  highest  evolution  from  this  necessity  is  the  brother- 
hood of  mankind,  which  will  eventually  come,  by  the 
working  of  the  same  natural  evolution. 

Man  may  fill  the  earth  with  written  codes  of  morality, 
which  can  be  changed  by  the  same  hands  which  \vrote 
them,  but  the  unwritten  laws  of  nature  never  change; 
and  no  human  hand  can  make  them  other  than  they  are, 
always  have  been,  and  alwrays  will  be. 

This  natural  kind  of  human  ethics  (adaptation  to 
nature  and  to  each  other) .  is  not  confined  to  the  human 
being.  All  the  lower  animals  exhibit  it  in  certain  de- 


ETHICS    AND    ALTRUISM  251 

grees.  It  pervades  all  nature,  and  is  always  just  and 
impartial. 

The  evolutionist  views  man,  in  his  primitive  stage, 
as  little  above  the  animal,  governed  by  passions,  de- 
sires, and  instincts,  inherited  from  his  remote  ances- 
tors. His  altruistic  evolution  comes  from  his  associa- 
tion with  his  fellows  for  the  purpose  of  mutual  pro- 
tection, and  is  correlated  with  the  economic,  political, 
and  intellectual  evolution  of  society. 

Man's  moral  nature  is  thus  evolved  biologically 
from  the  very  nature  of  his  life  itself ;  from  the  nature 
of  all  life:  not  only  this;  but  from  the  atoms  of  the 
nebula,  whose  moving  principle  is  condensation.  This 
is  the  criterion  of  the  strength,  and  binding  force  of 
natural  ethics.  Man  was  never  perfect,  even  in  his  own 
view  of  himself.  But  he  has  been,  ever  since  he  built 
the  first  fire  and  made  the  first  tool,  evolving  into  a 
better  adapted  organism  to  his  environment;  his 
primitive  instincts  blindly  led  him  to  those  efforts, 
which  conduce  to  his  physical  welfare.  This  effort  has 
been  his  salvation.  When  the  struggle  ceases,  that  is 
death.  But  he  passes  life  on  to  his  offspring  with  an 
inherited  periodical  variation,  which  prolongs  and 
widens  it,  generation  after  generation. 

RIGHTEOUSNESS. — All  men  properly  organized  are  de- 
sirous of  promoting  the  growth  of  what  is  generally 
called  "righteousness."  That  word,  however,  is  quite 
indefinite  in  its  application.  In  some  localities,  and  un- 
der certain  conditions,  it  is  considered  quite  compatible 
with  a  state  of  external  war,  of  slavery,  of  injustice ;  and 
in  others,  with  a  state  of  what  we  would  call  decided 
personal  immorality. 

In  1820  the  American  missionaries  to  the  Sandwich 
Islands  found  the  inhabitants  living  in  the  lowest  stages. 


252  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

of  savagery.  The  family  was  the  punaluan,  in  which, 
under  the  laws  of  the  gens,  half  brothers  and  sisters 
were  lawfully  living  in  wedlock.  Polygamy  and 
polyandry  were  universal.  These  were  the  customs, 
and  considered  by  them  perfectly  innocent  and  moral. 
They  undoubtedly  had  been  the  legal  and  moral  cus- 
toms, throughout  the  -world,  at  the  same  stage  of  social 
development,  viz. :  the  lowest,  and  the  middle  stage  of 
savagery. 

The  gens  at  that  stage  of  development  was  the  unit 
of  society,  the  same  as  the  family  is  the  unit  in  civiliza- 
tion now.  The  gens  consisted  of  a  supposed  female 
ancestry  and  her  children,  together  with  the  children  of 
her  daughters,  and  of  her  female  descendants,  through 
females  in  perpetuity.  The  geneology  was  traced  through 
the  mothers,  while  ours  at  the  present  time,  is  through 
the  fathers.  The  law  of  marriage  was,  that  it  could  not 
occur  between  members  of  the  same  gens,  but  that  each 
male,  or  female,  could  marry  any  member  of  another 
gens.  The  children,  both  male  and  female,  belonged  to 
the  gens  of  the  mother.  But  if  the  same  father  begat 
children  by  different  wives,  of  different  gens,  then  these 
children  could  legally,  and  morally,  marry  each  other, 
because  they  belonged  to  different  gentes. 

The  immorality  consisted  in  violating  the  law  of  the 
gens,  not  in  complying  with  the  law,  whatever  that 
was.  Our  ancestors,  when  they  were  passing  through 
the  same  status  of  savagery,  prior  to  historical  time, 
had  the  same  marriage  rites  under  the  same  form  of 
the  gens.  So  the  missionaries  in  so  strongly  condemn- 
ing what  they  called  the  great  immorality  of  the 
Fijiens,  were  really  besmirching  the  character  of  their 
own  ancestors^  who  practised  the  punaluan  customs,  in 
their  savage  and  barbaric  status,  and  were  as  innocent 


ETHICS    AND    ALTRUISM  253 

and  moral  as  we  are  in  following  the  monogamic  laws 
of  civilization. 

Righteousness  is  that  state  of  social,  and  individual 
relationship  in  which,  the  material  welfare  of  each  and 
all  is  best  promoted.  It  means,  that  the  right  thing 
shall  be  done,  at  the  right  time,  to  the  right  person, 
and  in  the  right  way.  All  these  terms  are  relative, 
and  these  "rights"  are  determined  by  the  aggregate 
community,  according  to  its  intellect;  and  the  test  of 
them  is,  the  experience  of  their  pragmatic  working.  It 
would  be  a  state  of  righteousness,  that  cannot  exist  in 
a  monarchy,  nor  in  slavery;  nor  where  the  laws  are 
unjust,  and  unequal,  though  under  such  conditions 
some  individuals  may  be  called  righteous. 

Unless  the  people  themselves  are  free,  unless  they 
are  their  own  rulers,  and  law  makers,  as  they  were 
in  the  primitive  gens,  there  must  be  unrighteousness 
as  a  whole.  In  short,  the  ideal  state  of  righteousness  is, 
in  a  broad  sense,  freedom,  governed  by  only  self- 
imposed  law,  such  as  theoretically  exists  in  a  republic, 
or  democracy. 

In  primitive  barbarism,  custom  was  based  on 
mythology,  because  men's  brains  could  not  conceive 
any  other  basis.  That  was  natural  to  their  stage  of 
evolution. 

Franz  Boas  says :  ' '  The  dislike  of  that  which  deviates 
from  the  custom  of  the  land"  (in  primitive  life)  "is 
even  more  strongly  marked  than  in  our  civilization." 

*  *  *  *  "I  think  we  are  justified  in  concluding 
from  our  own  experience,  that  as  among  ourselves,  so 
among  primitive  tribes,  the  resistance  to  a  deviation, 
from  firmly  established  customs,  is  due  to  an  emotional 
reaction,  not  to  conscious  reasoning. " 

In    a    community    of    scientists,    every    problem    of 


254  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

judgment  would  be  solved  according  to  scientific  prin- 
ciples ;  in  one  of  theologians  according  to  the  categories 
of  theology.  Everywhere  all  questions  are  answered 
according  to  the  prevailing  views  of  either  philosophy, 
science,  or  theology. 

STEPS  OF  EVOLUTION. — "Civilization  is  simply  the 
process  of  an  adjustment  on  a  large  scale,  whereby  man 's 
whole  nature,  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral,  develops 
in  all  its  marvelous  complexity  in  response  to  an  environ- 
ment, also  increasing  in  complexity."  In  this  way  the 
adjustment  is  made  by  the  natural  law  of  evolution.  If 
made  in  any  other  way  it  is  weak  and  tottering. 

Mark  the  order  of  the  adjustments  as  stated : — First, 
physical;  second,  intellectual;  third,  moral.  This  is 
the  natural  order  of  evolution  in  general  if  there  is 
any  succession.  The  first  development  of  an  organism, 
from  undifferentiated  protoplasm,  is  into  the  purely 
physical  cell, — the  amoeba,  for  instance,  consisting  of 
one  cell,  and  all  stomach — no  nervous  structure.  It  is 
not  until  the  organism  has  attained  considerable  com- 
plexity that  nerve  structure  is  evolved ;  then  intelli- 
gence begins  to  dawn.  But  it  is  not  until  it  becomes 
so  complex  in  correspondence  with  the  like  complexity 
of  environment,  that  it  requires  what  are  called 
memory,  reason,  and  will,  that  the  intellectual  is 
evolved.  Lastly,  the  moral,  or  ethical,  is  evolved  from 
the  intellect,  or  develops  co-ordinately  with  it.  It  is 
the  same  way  in  the  evolution  of  society  from  the 
primal  gens,  leading  a  purely  natural  life,  to  the 
present  complex  civilization.  The  present  code  of 
civic  morality  is  not  the  "root  but  the  fruit  of  civiliza- 
tion." A  natural  code  founded  on  the  laws  of  evolu- 
tion is  the  root  of  all  civilization.  It  has  been  the  real 
root  of  what  is  strong,  and  enduring,  in  the  present 
rapidly  changing  civilization. 


ETHICS    AND    ALTRUISM  255 

The  reasons  of  this,  in  addition  to  those  already 
stated,  may  be  given  as  follows:  Since  the  natural 
code  is  founded  on  the  necessity  for  the  adaptation  of 
man  to  his  environment,  the  complexity  of  it  depends 
on  the  complexity  of  his  nerve  structure,  which  gives 
him  greater  and  greater  conception  of  the  relation- 
ship, just  in  proportion  to  the  development  of  his 
nervous  system.  In  other  words,  the  more  complex 
the  intellect,  the  more  numerous  and  profound  the 
objective  truths  revealed  to  it.  It  follows,  that  these 
higher  adaptations,  and  correspondences,  are  the 
various  aspects  of  that  persistence  of  force,  which 
working  through  what  intellect  man  has,  produces 
more  numerous  and  stronger  variations  in  individuals 
and  society;  and  these  being  perpetuated  by  the  prin- 
ciple of  natural  selection,  a  corresponding  civilization 
would  be  produced  thereby. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  further  analyze  such  a  system 
of  morality  in  order  to  show  that  it  is  a  promoter  of 
higher  civilization.  The  Anglo-Saxon  race  is  a  fine 
example  of  the  evolution  of  the  ideas  of  the  people, 
parallel  with  their  growth  in  knowledge  of  natural 
science,  and  their  consequent  correspondence  with  a 
more  complex  environment. 

The  United  States,  the  freest  of  political  countries, 
in  which  the  general  education  of  the  masses,  in  natural 
science,  is  far  advanced,  and  growing,  is  at  the  same 
time  the  most  tolerant.  It  is  the  finest  example  of  co- 
development  of  a  high  civilization  and  freedom  of 
conscience. 

FREE  INDUSTRIALISM. — It  has  been  clearly  shown,  in 
history,  that  industrialism,  as  it  gradually  became  free 
from  all  kinds  of  slavery,  and  every  worker  is  allowed  to 
enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  own  labor,  and  to  think  as  he 
pleases,  is  at  the  foundation  of  all  social  progress.  In 


256  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

the  middle,  or  dark  ages,  war,  not  industry,  was  the 
means  of  accumulation,  and  industry  was  the  pursuit  of 
slaves  alone.  Not  until  labor  became  free,  and  respect- 
able, and  other  education,  than  mysticism,  was  intro- 
duced, did  society  begin  to  evolve  along  the  line  of  better 
civilization.  It  was  the  working  of  the  principle  of  natu- 
ral selection  that  determined  the  best  method  of  advance- 
ment. The  best  method  survived,  and  the  unfit  died. 
Along  with  economic  freedom  comes  what  is  called 
spiritual  freedom,  or  intellectual  freedom  to  think  as  one 
pleases  upon  all  subjects.  So  that  freedom  being  once 
established  in  any  one  of  the  organic  functions,  by  the 
principle  of  equilibration,  all  other  functions  eventually 
become  free. 

Now,  the  monastic,  and  ascetic  ideals  of  the  middle 
ages  were  utterly  incompatible  with  a  free  industrial 
and  commercial  spirit.  So  that  it  was  no  accident  that 
the  reformation  of  Luther,  as  well  as  political  freedom, 
made  most  progress  in  the  free  towns  of  feudal  Europe 
at  that  time.  It  was  the  natural  evolution  from  the 
old  order,  co-existent  with  that  of  free  industrialism. 

It  thus  results  from  the  logic  of  facts,  as  stated,  that 
while  emancipation  from  superstition  is  not  the  first 
impelling  cause  of  civilization,  yet,  that  industrial,  and 
political  freedom,  and  naturalism,  as  opposed  to 
slavery,  war,  and  authority,  go,  hand  hi  hand,  in  the 
progress  toward  a  higher  civilization ;  and  that  our  own 
country,  as  representing,  perhaps,  the  highest  example 
the  world  has  yet  produced,  is  at  the  same  time  the 
freest  from  the  old  superstitions,  and  the  farthest  on 
the  road  toward  the  freest  naturalism.  This  proves 
that  not  only  is  mysticism  and  authority  not  essential 
to  a  desirable  civilization,  but  that  a  really  desirable 
civilization  cannot  be  evolved  without  at  the  same  time 
slowly  eliminating  false  ideas  from  the  human  mind. 


CHAPTER  X 

ETHICS   AND   ALTRUISM 

Continued 

THE    GREAT    MOVEMENT. — The   universe   is    in- 
finite.    The   human  intellect   is   incapable   of 
penetrating  to  the  infinity  of  it,  or  to  see  be- 
hind it.    The  laws  of  it,  as  far  as  man  has  yet 
learned  them,  teach  him  that  they  never  change,  and  that 
the  flow  of  duration  cannot  be  altered  by  any  power, 
but  that  a  rhythmic  evolution  is  the  power  producing 
those  manifestations  which  the  limited  intellect  of  man 
can  see. 

Evolution  applies  its  great  method  of  development, 
natural  selection  or  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  to  every 
change  in  organic  life,  from  that  of  an  amoeba  to  man, 
including  the  change  of  man's  condition  from  a  soli- 
tary roamer  of  the  forest  to  his  social  status,  as  the 
citizen  of  a  great  civilized  community.  It  applies  equally 
to  the  changes,  now  going  on  in  man's  brain. 

All  social  evolution  depends,  of  course,  as  already 
stated,  on  the  combining  of  men  in  social  communities; 
that  is,  men  acting  upon  each  other  in  a  social  capacity. 
The  intellectual,  and  moral  character  of  a  community, 
is  the  aggregate  of  that  of  the  individuals  composing 
it.  Whatever  is  done  thus,  is  done,  of  course,  by  the 
action  of  the  individual  members.  The  savagery,  bar- 
barism, or  civilization  characterizing  it,  is  said,  by  some 
writers,  to  be  created  by  the  reason  of  the  aggregate 
men  composing  it.  But  if  this  reason  is  the  result  of 
biological  evolution  in  the  individual,  and  is  limited  to 
organic  adaptation  to  the  inorganic,  by  the  neural  and 
anatomical  structure  of  the  members  of  the  community, 

257 


258  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

in  correlation  with  the  natural  forces  in  the  environ- 
ment, then  all  the  effects,  or  results,  of  that  reason  are 
really  evolved  from  these  physical  correlations.  In  other 
words,  all  social  conditions  throughout  the  world  are 
evolved  through  the  brains  of  men  by  natural  forces, 
whose  requirements  cannot  be  ignored,  by  any  assumed 
independent  action  on  the  part  of  men.  In  this  view, 
which  seems  to  be  the  correct  one,  man  really  exercises 
no  "free  will"  in  social,  the  same  as  he  does  not,  in  in- 
dividual affairs.  Every  effort,  and  every  function  is 
bounded  by  the  limitation  of  the  human  brain. 

While  the  aggregation  of  men  in  society  gives  them 
power  in  the  direction  of  defense,  preservation  of  life, 
and  the  perpetuity  of  the  race,  yet,  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind,  that  except  indirectly,  in  the  establishments  of 
educational  institutions,  it  does  not  increase  the  power 
of  the  intellect,  to  penetrate  further  into  the  flow  of 
existence — the  reality  of  things.  But  men  are  learning 
now  that  better  civilization  means  a  better  conception 
of  social  science,  and  that  comes  only  with  a  better  con- 
ception of  all  science. 

The  fact  is  well  known,  that  ever  since  the  beginning 
of  historical  time,  society  has  been  advancing  in  the 
forms  and  essentials  of  its  civilization,  only  as  it  dis- 
carded delusion,  and  adopted  the  truths  of  natural 
science.  This  advance  is  not  in  a  direct  line,  but  as  all 
progress  is  made,  rhythmically,  in  periodical  ups  and 
downs.  Today,  the  conditions  are  almost  infinitely  bet- 
ter than  they  were  in  the  dark  ages,  when  the  densest 
superstitions  ruled  men,  and  authority  was  in  the  full 
control  of  men's  ideas;  very  much  better  than  two 
hundred  years  ago,  when  witchcraft  and  slavery  were 
quite  universal;  and  when  the  death  penalty  was  at- 
tached to  a  large  number  of  simple  misdemeanors,  and 
debtors  were  imprisoned  in  filthy  jails. 


ETHICS    AND    ALTRUISM  259 

Hobhouse  says,  that  in  England  death  was  theoreti- 
cally the  penalty  for  all  felonies,  except  petty  larceny 
and  mayhem,  from  the  middle  ages,  down  to  1826. 

The  excess! veness  and  cruelty  of  punishment  for 
offenses  seem  to  have  been  proportioned  to  the  weak- 
ness of  the  people  in  their  efforts  to  defend  themselves. 
They  were  the  result  of  fear  and  weakness.  When 
larceny  and  robbery  were  more  or  less  prevalent  among 
the  powerful,  who  stood  together  as  clansmen,  those 
whose  duty  it  was  to  make  the  laws,  and  inflict  the 
punishment,  invoked  heavy  penalty,  as  a  preventive 
of  crime.  But  when  public  opinion  became  more  moral, 
it  took  the  place  of  unusual  punishment,  and  the  powers, 
having  the  public  opinion  behind  them,  as  an  aid  to 
good  order,  abolished  excessive  penalties  for  milder 
ones.  This  sort  of  evolution  will  continue,  parallel 
with  the  growth  of  intellect  and  morals,  until  eventually 
mankind  will  do  right  without  fear  of  punishment,  be- 
cause they  will  then  perceive  that  crime  brings  its  own 
punishment,  when  the  community  at  large  keeps  control 
of  it.  That  is,  men  will  do  the  right  for  its  own  sake, 
or  rather  because  that  habit  brings  the  greatest  welfare, 
to  both  the  individual  and  the  community. 

Hobhouse  says  also,  that  serfdom  was  finally  abol- 
ished in  France,  without  compensation,  on  the  night 
of  August  4th,  1789,  along  with  the  other  incidents  of 
the  feudal  tenure.  At  the  same  time  fell  the  whole 
system  of  privilegevS,  which  had  made  the  nobles,  and 
the  clergy,  castes  set  apart  from  the  mass  of  the 
people. 

It  perhaps  could  not  have  been  done,  in  France,  in 
any  other  way,  than  by  the  French  revolution,  or  for 
that  matter,  great  reforms  are  forced  by  the  people, 
who  need  the  reforms,  never  by  the  oppressor. 


260  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

An  evolution  of  intellect  brings  with  it  an  evolution 
of  religion.  The  subjects  and  methods  of  ministers 
of  the  Gospel,  as  a  rule,  are  quite  different  now  from 
what  they  were  even  fifty  or  more  years  ago.  There 
has  been  a  constant  tendency  toward  tolerance,  in 
differences  of  creeds ;  less  and  less  emphasis  upon  a 
literal  heaven  and  a  local  hell.  Correct  living,  per- 
sonal morals,  kindness,  charity,  mercy,  are  more  dwelt 
upon  in  latter  day  sermons.  There  has  been  less  en- 
couragement given  to  emotional  forms  of  religious  ex- 
pression, and  more  to  the  attitude  that  man  should 
cultivate  toward  his  fellow  man.  The  reformation 
of  Luther  meant  that  an  evolution  from  authority,  from 
ceremony,  and  ritualism  was  taking  place.  Protestant- 
ism means  that  religion  is  a  personal  matter,  that  its 
institutional  features  should  come  nearer  to  the 
individual,  that  the  clergy  should  conduct  the  teach- 
ings in  a  language  understood  by  the  people,  and  that 
the  laity  should  determine  for  themselves  who  their 
teachers  shall  be.  There  has .  been  a  very  great 
evolution  in  the  intelligence  and  spirit  of  the  pulpit. 
Fifty  or  sixty  years  ago,  untrained  and  uneducated 
preachers  and  exhorters  droned  to  the  people  the 
physical  attraction  of  a  local  heaven,  and  especially 
the  eternal  torments  of  a  literal  lake  of  fire,  awaiting 
the  death  of  unbelievers,  in  which  to  plunge  their 
immortal  souls.  This  specialized  kind  of  cruelty  has 
largely  passed  away.  Students  are  now  educated  to 
the  .ministry.  They  preach  less  cruelty  and  demon 
worship  and  fear.  Love,  the  beatitudes,  peace,  happi- 
ness, the  Golden  Rule,  the  sermon  on  the  mount,  form 
the  themes  of  an  educated  clergy.  A  personal  devil 
and  his  imps,  and  all  agents  of  torture  are  neglected. 
They  have  passed  away  as  did  witchcraft,  slavery,  the 


ETHICS    AND    ALTRUISM  261 

inquisition  and  the  dark  ages.  In  those  days,  also, 
there  was  a  polemic  struggle  between  the  various  sects 
for  survival  of  immaterial  doctrines.  Fiery  pulpit 
orators  were  challenging  each  other  to  debate  the 
merits  of  each  other's  creeds.  But  now  there  is  none 
of  that  spirit.  The  different  Protestant  churches  join 
in  working  together,  in  spreading  the  fundamental 
tenets  of  the  Christian  religion.  The  tendency  now  is 
to  consolidate,  especially  in  ethical,  altruistic  and  mis- 
sionary work.  The  line  of  separation  on  the  minor 
themes  of  mere  church  government  and  creeds,  is 
being  more  or  less  obliterated,  in  the  growing  im- 
portance of  peace,  charity,  the  Golden  Rule,  and  the 
brotherhood  of  man.  This  has  been  an  evolution,  and 
the  survival  of  the  fittest  religious  views,  is  the  bringing 
forth  thus  of  a  new  species  of  religion,  as  plain  as  is 
the  evolution  of  an  organism,  from  a  lower  order.  As 
a  republican  form  of  government  evolved  in  America 
from  the  monarchy  of  England,  or  as  the  French 
republic  evolved  from  the  empire  of  Napoleon  3d,  so 
Protestantism  is  an  evolution  from  Catholicism,  and 
the  modified  forms  of  religious  tolerance  of  the  present 
day,  a  like  development  from  the  intolerance  of  the 
first  Puritans,  who  came  to  America.  There  are  yet 
many  reactionists  in  the  churches,  but  they  are  utterly 
unable  to  stem  the  tide  of  natural-  evolution  that 
always  attends  upon  advancing  intelligence  This 
evolution  in  religion  is  merely  typical  of  that  in  all 
things,  physical,  intellectual  and  moral.  It  is  universal, 
and  cannot  be  controlled  by  man. 

It  is  a  wide  stretch,  from  the  conception  of  a  literal 
hell,  and  a  material  heaven ;  from  special  creation ;  the 
constant  cessation  of  natural  law,  in  order  that  miracles 
might  occur;  the  killing  of  men  for  opinion's  sake; 


262  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

from  the  inquisition,  and  the  holy  wars,  to  the  present 
day  conception  of  natural  evolution,  the  reign  of 
cosmical  law,  that  never  changes ;  tolerance  of  opinion ; 
the  freedom  of  religious  views,  and  the  evident 
tendency  of  all  countries  toward  peace,  and  good  will. 
THE  UNIVERSAL  APPLICATION  OF  NATURAL  ETHICS. — 
This  natural  generalization  of  morality,  viz.,  man's 
normal  adjustment  to  his  environment,  is  appliable  to 
every  condition  and  to  every  spot  on  the  globe.  It  is  a 
universal  method  of  religion.  There  will,  of  course,  be 
a  certain  local  peculiarity,  as  said  before,  in  the  environ- 
ment of  every  people,  and  in  the  greater,  or  lesser,  de- 
velopment of  intellect,  that  will  make  the  natural  moral- 
ity of  individual  correspondence  with  such  environment, 
different  from  that  of  other  localities.  But,  men  every- 
where of  equal  development  of  intellect,  and  acquire- 
ments of  scientific  knowledge,  will,  as  a  class  be  equally 
naturally  moral.  The  principle  of  conformity  to  natural 
law,  as  the  true  basis  of  ethics,  is  not  affected  by  these 
local  phases.  The  principle  is  really  the  Golden  Rule, 
"Do  unto  others  as  you  would  have  others  do  to  you." 
Man's  normal  adjustment  to  his  fellow  man,  as  part  of 
his  environment,  could  mean  nothing  else.  This  is  a 
normal  adjustment  of  man  to  his  fellow  man.  It  is 
just  as  moral  for  the  East  Indian  to  worship  Buddha, 
as  it  is  for  the  Jews  to  worship  Jahveh.  The  Golden 
Rule  is  moral  to  both,  and  is  common  to  both,  because 
it  is  a  general  principle,  that  should  govern  people 
everywhere.  Whoever  conscientiously  conforms  to  the 
laws  and  customs  of  his  tribe,  or  country,  or  locality  is 
in  normal  adjustment  to  his  environment,  and  is  moral. 
His  conscience  has  evolved  in  that  mode,  and  regulates 
his  morality,  because  it  is  a  creation  of  the  locality. 
Some  Mohammedan  tribes  consider  smoking,  as  one  of 


ETHICS    AND    ALTRUISM  263 

the  worst  of  offenses,  a  sin  in  comparison  with  which 
murder,  and  adultery,  are  trivial.  An  Arab  chief  is 
unable  to  see  how  a  man  can  be  contented  with  one 
wife.  But  were  they  less  moral  for  these  beliefs? 
There  is  no  natural  law  regarding  marriage  customs. 
These  are  made  by  the  communities  themselves,  and 
are  based,  in  every  community,  like  all  human  laws, 
upon  the  idea  of  that,  which  will  bind  the  community 
together  more  strongly. 

If  man  does  violate  some  unimportant  requirements 
of  the  natural  code  he  will  suffer  only  in  proportion  to 
their  importance.  For  instance,  should  he  imprudently 
expose  his  person  to  a  draught  he  takes  cold.  If  he  eat 
indigestible  food,  or  drink  intoxicants,  his  digestion  is 
upset.  If  he  violate  any  social  law,  or  legal  enactment 
he  suffers  accordingly. 

It  is  stated  above  that  a  natural  code  of  ethics  is 
applicable  to  every  place,  and  is  therefore  universal. 
This  means  that  the  correspondence  of  the  organism 
with  its  environment,  so  as  to  conserve  its  welfare, — 
its  preservation  and  its  perpetuation,  and  strengthen 
the  bond  of  society, — is  the  same  principle,  in  one 
place,  as  in  another.  This  correspondence  included, 
of  course,  his  fellow  man,  the  peculiar  form  of  society, 
under  which  he  lives,  and  the  laws  and  customs  of  that 
society.  These  vary  with  the  locality,  and  with  the 
state  of  evolution  of  the  intellect  of  the  society,  and 
the  individual;  but  the  principle  is  everywhere  the 
same  and  always  natural.  Therefore,  this  principle  is 
a  universal  religion.  That  is  man's  normal  intellectual 
adjustment  to  his  environment,  narrow,  or  broad.  It 
will  be  altogether  different  in  form  in  the  United 
States,  from  what  it  can  among  the  natives  in  Central 
Africa. 


264  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

A  fixed  categorical  imperative,  a  prescribed  written 
code,  made  to  fit  the  a  priori  ideas  of  one  social  unit  in 
one  locality,  has  never  become  the  guide  of  men  in  all 
communities,  everywhere  and  under  all  conditions.  Nor 
can  reason  determine  beforehand,  by  a  written  pre- 
scription, the  morality  of  a  future  action,  because  it  can- 
not anticipate  all  the  possible  conditions  of  the  entire  en- 
vironment, to  which  it  may  be  necessary,  at  another 
time,  for  man  to  readjust  himself  in  all  his  heterogene- 
ous relations.  Man's  moral  relations  to  his  fellows,  in 
times  of  peace,  and  good  will,  are  altogether  different 
from  what  they  are,  in  a  state  of  war,  towards  his  war- 
like enemies.  His  attitude  towards  his  friends,  is  neces- 
sarily different  from  his  attitude  toward  one  who  washes 
to  murder,  or  rob  him,  and  both  may  be  moral.  The 
divine  prohibition  of  pork,  as  a  diet  in  Palestine,  may 
have  been  correct,  because  of  its  supposed  injurious  ef- 
fects there,  but  not  in  Europe,  where  it  does  not  cause 
leprosy. 

In  a  tribe  living  in  the  lowest  degree  of  savagery,  it 
was  a  rule  that  when  a  wife  died,  it  was  the  duty  of  a 
husband  to  go  to  another  tribe,  and  kill  a  female  mem- 
ber of  it.  It  is  said,  that  unless  the  husband  performed 
this  divine  command,  he  pined  away  and  died.  This 
rule  was  part  of  the  moral  code  of  that  tribe.  Civilized 
man  regards  this  as  not  only  immoral,  but  criminal. 
But  all  the  tribes  of  savages  regarded  it  as  moral.  The 
rule  is  always  abrogated,  when  such  tribes  grow  to  re- 
gard human  life  as  valuable, — worth  more  living  than 
dead.  They,  in  time,  grow  out  of  such  horrible  moral 
ideas.  The  similarity  however  of  the  morality,  between 
this  rule  of  a  tribe  of  savages,  and  the  international  code 
of  civilized  countries,  in  making  war  upon  each  other, 
for  the  acquisition  of  territory,  will  be  apparent  to  the 
thinker. 


ETHICS    AND    ALTRUISM  265 

In  the  war  of  1871  between  Germany  and  France, 
and  that  is  only  an  example  of  others,  thousands  of  lives 
were  taken  apparently  for  the  acquisition  of  Alsace  and 
Loraine,  and  of  a  thousand  million  francs  as  indemnity. 

THE  PRINCIPLE  WORKS — REGARDLESS  OF  HUMAN  OP- 
POSITION.— It  is  evident  to  the  student  of  anthropology, 
that  nature  is  now  enforcing  and  always  has  enforced, 
this  natural  morality  of  human  adaptation,  without  the 
least  regard  for  any  artificial  code ;  and  the  punish- 
ment for  violations  is  being  enforced  daily  before  our 
eyes.  But  we  refuse  to  see,  that  our  short  comings  are 
lapses  in  immorality,  that  term  being  applied  exclusively 
to  acts,  which  meet  the  approbation,  or  reprobation  of 
another;  and  seldom,  if  ever,  to  lapses  of  natural  laws, 
or  human  laws  founded  on  the  laws  of  Nature.  Un- 
belief, for  which  Nature  has  no  punishment,  is  to  the 
Council  of  Trent,  an  unpardonable  sin. 

Sir  Francis  Drake,  commanding  England's  fleet  in 
1586,  wrote  the  Lord  High  Treasurer,  on  his  return  from 
an  expedition  to  the  West  Indies,  where  he  captured, 
and  put  to  ransom,  the  Spanish  towns  of  San  Domingo 
and  Cartagena,  that  on  his  expedition,  the  Spanish  treas- 
ure of  the  Indies  escaped  him  only  twelve  hours,  saying 
"the  cause,  best  known  to  God."  He  meant  he  would 
have  waylaid  the  Spanish  vessels  carrying  the  treasure 
and  taken  it,  as  he  had  done  other  piratical  things,  and 
"God  work  it  all  to  his  glorye. "  It  is  not  possible  that 
God  had  any  hand  in  such  crimes. 

But  could  men  be  aroused  to  see  that  sudden,  or  pre- 
mature death,  or  exclusion  from  society,  for  social  viola- 
tions, are  really  avoidable  by  living  up  to  a  natural  code 
of  ethics,  it  would  soon  be  perceived  that  the  proper 
education,  is  that,  which  teaches  how  the  most  health 
and  happiness  can  be  gotten  out  of  life,  by  a  study  of 


266  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

man,  and  his  relation  to  his  complete  environment.  If 
men  build  cities  near  a  threatening  volcano,  or  on  a 
level  with  tide  water,  and  get  overwhelmed,  or  destroyed, 
that  is  a  punishment  that  Nature  metes  out  for  ignorance 
and  stupidity;  not  from  design,  but  because  the  great 
law  of  Nature  is  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  which,  in  this 
case,  would  be  those  who  avoid  the  destructive  forces  of 
life,  in  the  shape  of  fire  and  flood. 

The  endeavor  has  above  been  made,  to  outline  a  uni- 
versal principle,  which  being  applied  in  every  spot,  and 
under  any  and  all  circumstances,  will  produce  automati- 
cally, that  condition  in  man,  which  is  called  ethics,  or 
morality.  That  principle  is,  the  adaptive  adjustment 
of  the  psycho-physical  organism.  This  adjustment  will 
necessarily  be  different  in  different  communities,  and  in 
different  places.  For  the  scientist,  whose  knowledge  of 
the  laws  of  nature  is  greater,  than  that  of  the  native 
Australian,  or  of  the  North  American  Indian,  it  should 
be  more  completely  and  highly  ethical  and  moral.  But 
the  latter 's  adjustment  being  better  adapted  to  him, 
than  could  be,  that  of  the  scientist,  it  gives  him  a  better 
morality  for  his  welfare,  his  preservation,  his  happiness, 
than  would  be  that  of  the  scientist,  if  such  a  thing  could 
happen,  as  that  the  higher  adjustment  of  the  scientist 
could,  by  any  means,  be  taken  over  by  the  Australian, 
without  his  intellect  being  made  equal  to  that  of  the 
scientist.  In  other  words,  there  would  remain  as  much 
difference  in  the  ethics  of  the  peoples  of  the  world,  then 
as  now,  unless  all  should  become  equally  enlightened,  in 
the  scientific  truths  of  natural  law. 

One  category  of  natural  ethics,  therefore,  cannot 
prevail  until  all  men  perceive  the  same  necessity  for 
the  application  of  the  principle. 

The  principle  of  ethics,  being  the  adjustment  of  the 


ETHICS    AND    ALTRUISM  267 

individual  with  bis  environment,  is  that  of  evolution, 
and  it  follows  in  natural  order  the  biological  evolution 
of  the  organism.  In  this  sense,  true  natural  ethics  is 
an  evolution,  and  its  elements  are  accounted  for  thus 
naturally  and  logically.  But  when  an  author,  in 
trying  to  account  for  morality  in  some  other  way,  says 
it  is  within  us,  and  its  roots  can  be  sought  in  the 
obvious  motive  forces  of  human  action,  he  can  be 
asked  whence  came  these  motive  forces? 

The  evolutionist  meets  the  inquiry  in  a  natural  way 
by  saying  they  were  biologically  evolved,  with  ex- 
perience, as  part  of  life  itself,  and  are  a  part  of  the 
constant  readjustment  of  the  psycho-physical  organism 
to  a  constantly  changing  environment.  That  part  of 
the  readjustment,  pertaining  to  the  inter-relation  of 
life  forms,  and  their  aggregation  into  societies,  is 
generally  exclusively  called  morality.  But  there  can 
be  no  hard  and  fast  line  drawn  between  the  latter 
and  all  other  adjustments  that  the  individual  is  com- 
pelled to  make,  to  his  general  environment. 

This  principle  of  moral  adjustment  to  local  customs 
is  really  the  same  as  that  laid  down  in  Adam  Smith's 
"Theory  of  Moral  Sentiments."  He  says,  "Our  con- 
tinual observations  upon  the  conduct  of  others,  in- 
sensibly lead  us  to  form  to  ourselves  certain  general 
rules  concerning  what  is  fit  and  proper  either  to  be 
done  or  avoided.  *  *  *  It  is  thus  that  the  general 
rules  of  morality  are  formed."  This  means  that 
local  customs  form  the  morality  of  the  location  of 
such  customs. 

"When  the  development  of  agriculture  made  a  cap- 
tive neighbor  worth  more  as  a  slave,  than  as  roast 
meat,  the  great  wrong  of  roasting  him  was  a  natural 
deduction.  But  that  conclusion  was  not  drawn  from 


268  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

anything  else  that  man  ever  did,  or  taught,  or  from 
any  inspiration  ever  given  him  during  all  the  thousands 
of  years  of  his  previous  labor,  philosophisings,  and 
forming  of  ethical  codes."  Richardson,  in  "Industrial 
Problems." 

In  fact,  all  advancement  in  ethics,  art,  in  literature, 
in  philosophy,  in  civilization,  followed  from  some  new 
industrial,  economic  relation,  discovered  by  man  in 
nature,  making  it  easier  for  him  to  supply  his  wants. 

Darwin's  comments  on  the  "moral  sense"  in  chapter 
4  of  "Descent  of  Man,"  are  acute  and  elaborate.  And 
he  connects  it  as  a  fundamental  growth  in  a  clear  way, 
with  the  principle  of  evolution.  Conscience  is  a  pure 
product  of  the  long  continued  habits  of  the  social 
unit.  Whatever  the  customs  of  the  gens,  or  tribe 
require,  is  moral.  The  remorse  comes  when  these 
customs  are  violated.  It  makes  no  difference  whether 
these  customs  accord  or  not,  with  our  ideas  of  morality, 
they  are  moral  to  the  members  of  the  gens,  or  tribe, 
and  that  gives  satisfaction  to  the  individual,  who  con- 
forms to  that  custom,  and  remorse  when  he  violates  it. 
And  who  is  to  judge  except  the  tribe  itself,  whether 
such  customs  are  not  in  accordance  with  the  best  wel- 
fare of  the  gens,  at  the  period  of  such  customs? 

Morality  has  widened,  and  become  more  humane,  as 
the  customs  within  the  tribe,  pertaining  to  the  attitude 
of  the  individuals  thereof  to  each  other,  have  been 
extended  to  all  human  beings  of  every  tribe,  or  nation. 
Tn  primitive  tribes  murder,  robbery,  treachery  and 
such  crimes  were  not  legal  within  the  gens,  but  were 
not  considered  criminal  when  practiced  against  other 
gentes,  or  tribes.  This  does  not  differ  very  greatly 
from  some  customs  of  civilized  countries,  in  their 
methods  of  bringing  on  war.  Customs  could  only  be 


ETHICS    AND    ALTRUISM  269 

abolished  when  tribes  became  consolidated  into  a 
nation,  and  it  became  impossible  to  continue  to  carry 
out  the  custom,  as  a  national  law,  on  account  of  the 
physical  obstacles.  In  fact,  by  the  time  the  members 
of  primitive  tribes  had  evolved  sufficient  brain  power 
to  combine  into  nations,  they  had,  also,  subjectively 
created  a  superior  authority  who  did  not,  in  their 
opinion,  require  a  sacrifice  so  absurd  as  the  killing 
of  innocent  females  of  another  tribe.  These  advances 
in  morals  and  brain  power  are  simultaneous.  The 
principle  applies,  not  only  to  the  barbarians  and 
savages,  but  in  the  days  of  slavery  it  was  not  consid- 
ered, in  otherwise  civilized  countries,  a  crime  to  enslave 
those  of  a  foreign  race,  but  to  enslave  those  of  the  same 
race  was  a  heinous  crime.  Thus  the  roots  of  our  own 
customs  reach  back  into  savagery. 

The  nearer  society  comes  to  perceiving  the  truth, 
everywhere  apparent  to  high  intellects,  the  greater 
the  number  of  functions  it  develops;  and,  therefore, 
the  higher  will  become  the  civilization.  That  civiliza- 
tion is  high,  where  individual  opportunity  for  growth 
in  intellect,  altruism,  and  longevity  are  great,  and 
that  this  individualism  is  at  the  same  time  sub- 
ordinated, in  the  proper  degree,  to  the  welfare  of  the 
aggregate. 

When  man  obtains  the  right  of  freedom,  the  right 
to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  own  labor,  without  the  fear 
of  exploitation,  then  happiness  naturally  follows.  He 
must  have  freedom  of  mind  and  conscience.  All  he 
can  ask  of  the  state  is,  that  it  will  protect  him  in 
his  natural  rights,  in  return  for  what  he  contributes 
to  the  welfare  of  the  state.  Such  an  adjustment  will 
produce  a  stronger  bond  to  society,  than  any  other. 

Paine   says,   "The  more  perfect   civilization   is,  the 


270  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

less  occasion  has  it  for  government;  because  the  more 
does  it  regulate  its  own  affairs,  and  govern  itself."  He 
means  by  this,  that  the  more  the  intellect  is  developed, 
the  less  is  man  inclined  to  encroach  on  the  liberty  of 
liis  fellow  man.  Thus  intelligence,  and  altruism,  are 
evolved  simultaneously.  As  soon  as  man  becomes  in- 
telligent enough  to  perceive,  that  interference  with 
the  rights  of  his  fellows,  jeopardizes  his  own  rights, 
then  he  needs  much  less  than  ever  before,  any  govern- 
ing power  to  compel  him  to  keep  his  hands  off  the 
person,  or  property  of  another. 

In  our  own  country,  where  our  organic  law  is  in  theory 
based  on  the  legal  equality  of  all  men,  the  inherited  taint 
of  this  division  of  the  people  into  classes, — one  the  rul- 
ing class,  and  another  the  ruled, — still  lingers  in  the 
habits  of  the  people,  and  in  many  of  the  iniquitous  laws 
that  are  kept  upon  the  statutes.  A  natural  code  of  ethics 
will  bear  equally  upon  all  men,  and  not  require  one  to 
"bend  the  pregnant  hinges  of  the  knee,  that  thrift  may 
follow  fawning;"  nor  will  it  make  of  an  elected  execu- 
tive a  ruler,  but  a  servant  of  the  people.  Oppression,  in 
the  form  of  legal  enactment,  can  have  no  place  in  a 
natural  code ;  nor,  under  it,  could  a  class  of  citizens,  who 
have  the  mental  power,  obtain  control  of  government, 
for  the  purpose  of  depriving  another  class  of  the  benefits 
of  its  own  production.  Under  such  a  code,  human  laws 
must  follow  the  laws  of  nature,  in  bearing  equally  and 
equitably  upon  all. 

EVOLUTION  AN  EQUITABLE  LAW. — Evolution  is  a  natu- 
ral law,  and  fortunately  not  arbitrarily  controlled. 
Whatever  method,  either  in  the  physical,  or  in  the 
psychical  world,  falls  within  the  principle  of  evolu- 
tion, is  equitable  law.  Those  functions  of  matter  and 
motion  which  are  essential,  in  the  integration  of  forms, 


ETHICS    AND    ALTRUISM  271 

or  in  the  dissolution  of  them,  no  less  than  in  the  forma- 
tion and  growth  of  social  units,  such  as  tribes,  states,  and 
nations,  are  natural  laws.  It  is  so,  also,  with  those  func- 
tions of  the  members  of  such  social  units  in  making  the 
rules,  customs  and  laws  necessary  to  preserve  the  in- 
tegrity and  growth  of  them.  These  must  conform  to  the 
natural  laws,  always  governing  the  evolution  of  such 
bodies,  or  they  will  not  produce  the  objects  of  such  or- 
ganizations. The  law  of  contract  is  a  natural  law,  for 
without  the  fulfillment  of  contracts,  no  society  could 
long  survive.  The  laws  for  the  protection  of  person  and 
property  are  natural  for  the  same  reason.  Without 
these  society  could  not  exist.  This  is  why  human  law 
must  conform  to  natural  laws.  The  natural,  under  the 
principle  of  evolution,  is  that  which  produces  only  the 
essential  things  in  the  preservation  of  the  cosmic  pro- 
cess, and  strong,  enduring  aggregations  of  mankind,  are 
among  these  essential  things.  A  civilization,  adapted  to 
the  intellectual  and  ethical  development  of  the  members 
of  it,  is  evidently  that  form  of  society  which  will  give 
the  greatest  strength  to  the  aggregate,  and  the  most  hap- 
piness to  the  individuals.  Every  custom,  rule,  regula- 
tion, or  law  that  will  work  toward  such  a  civilization  is 
a  natural  law,  while  every  one,  that  retards,  or  opposes 
the  coming  of  such  a  civilization,  is  unnatural. 

In  the  physical  wrorld  the  laws  of  the  indestructibility 
of  matter,  the  conservation  of  energy,  of  condensation, 
of  the  attraction  of  gravitation,  evidently  are  essential 
to  the  integrity  of  the  universe.  Should  there  be  any 
power  which  could,  and  would  change  one  of  these  laws, 
the  effect  would  be  disastrous  to  the  whole.  It  is  the 
same  in  human  affairs.  Those  laws  which  work  for 
harmony,  and  what  is  called  righteousness,  are  natural 
sociological  laws,  and  those  that  work  for  dissolution, 


272  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

or  inharmony,  are  unnatural.  It  is  evident  that  those 
laws,  that  receive  the  assent  of  the  greatest  number  of 
the  units  of  a  society,  are  the  ones  which  will  hold  such 
a  society  together,  and  will  produce  the  greatest  strength. 
Slavery,  oppression,  witchcraft,  magic,  sorcery,  are  en- 
tirely human,  there  are  no  such  things  in  nature.  Should 
human  institutions  cease,  these  delusions  would  cease 
with  them.  The  farther  from  natural  law  society  de- 
parts, the  more  deluded  it  is,  the  more  fragile,  and  less 
permanent.  Human  law  may  give  one  man  special 
privilege  over  another,  but  natural  law  leaves  evolution 
to  act  only  by  general,  not  special  methods.  There  is 
no  repeal,  nor  amendment  to  natural  law,  because  no 
error  has  been  made  in  the  first  instance.  Human  law 
is  a  history  of  error  and  amendment,  or  trial,  failure  and 
renewed  effort.  But  science  discloses  that  evolution  has 
been  continuous  under  the  same  law  always ;  that  matter 
is  indestructible,  force  is  persistent,  the  same  effect 
always  follows  the  same  cause,  that  no  natural  law  has 
ever  been  suspended  for  an  instant  to  correct  any  error, 
or  to  favor  man,  or  any  organism,  or  to  relieve  him 
from  his  necessary  response  to  an  unchanging  environ- 
ment. These  are  the  reasons  why  the  rule  for  our  guid- 
ance in  this  life  should  be  based  on  our  knowledge  of 
phenomena.  One  defect  of  human  law  is  that  it  is  so 
full  of  misconceptions  of  this  principle.  Our  courts  follow 
the  precedents  whether  they  are  equitable  or  not,  and 
lawyers  keep  up  the  sacredness  of  statute  law  and  deci- 
sions. Our  lawyers  say  this  should  be  a  government  of 
law.  But  it  should  be  a  government  of  equity,  which 
it-  will  not  become,  until  laws  are  equitable  only,  and 
shall  be  construed  between  litigants,  on  the  basis  of 
equity,  or  what  the  people  conceive  as  equity.  The 
present  unrest  concerning  courts,  and  their  decisions 


ETHICS    AND    ALTRUISM  273 

have  this  as  the  cause  of  it.  As  long  as  a  lawyer  who 
has  a  case  important  enough  to  justify  the  cost,  can 
go  to  the  legislature  before  filing  his  complaint,  and 
have  a  law  passed  to  fit  his  case,  so  that  a  judge  will 
have  to  decide  in  his  favor,  whether  he  is  right,  or 
wrong;  so  long,  will  the  people  hold  legislators,  and 
judges  in  little  respect.  No  wonder  the  people  are 
struggling  with  such  lawyers  and  legislatures  to  obtain 
the  recall,  the  initiative  and  referendum. 

ALTRUISM. — The  psychology  of  the  Christian  doc- 
trine of  unselfishness,  or  altruism,  or  the  principles 
of  kindness  to,  and  preservation  of,  the  community  as 
a  whole; — the  establishment  of  insane  asylums, 
charitable  institutions  of  all  kinds,  orphan  asylums, 
care  of  the  blind,  and  deaf  and  dumb,  is  a  study  of 
most  profound  interest.  Little  of  this  was  found  in 
savagery,  more  in  barbarism,  and  most  in  civilization. 
It  is  a  growth  parallel  with  the  evolution  of  cerebral 
power.  It  has  developed,  hand  in  hand,  with  wealth 
accumulating  power.  The  red  Indian,  who  lived  from 
hand  to  mouth,  who  roamed  the  forest,  or  prairie  in 
pursuit  of  sustentation,  who  lived  in  movable  tents, 
could  not  care  for  the  aged,  or  disabled.  They  were 
abandoned  to  their  fate.  In  his  loose  ties  of  tribal 
association,  he  could  not  develop  the  idea.  He  could 
not  conceive,  with  his  relatively  small  brain  develop- 
ment, the  abstract  principle,  that,  until  he  exercised 
unselfishness,  there  would  be  none  extended  to  him. 
But  when  the  Aryan  and  Semitic  races  began  farming, 
and  raising  domestic  animals  for  food,  wealth  began 
to  accumulate,  closer  ties  of  citizenship  were  formed, 
communities  became  localized,  and  the  hard  struggles 
of  savagery,  and  barbarism,  gradually  passed  away. 
Then  unselfishness,  or  local  morality,  or  limited  altruism 


274  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

grew  rapidly.  The  Golden  Rule  was  soon  established 
as  a  principle,  long  before  it  was  formulated  in  words, 
although  constantly  violated.  Then  it  became  easy 
to  establish  a  religious  cult,  founded  on  that  principle. 
The  conditions,  such  as  the  greater  brain  power,  and 
the  ability  to  accumulate  wealth,  after  the  smelting 
of  iron  ore  was  invented,  and  marriage  began  to  be 
founded  on  sexual  love,  and  not  mere  passion,  were 
brought  about  by  natural  evolution.  The  Christian 
religion  grew  out  of  these  conditions.  They  were 
not  made  by  the  religion,  but  the  natural  conditions 
made  the  religion.  It  is  not  an  intuitive  principle. 
If  it  had  been  implanted,  and  not  a  result  of  physical 
evolution,  it  could  have  been  implanted  in  the  savage, 
or  primitive  man,  as  well  as  in  the  Aryan  or  Semitic 
race,  at  the  time  it  appeared.  But  the  primitive  man  was 
not  prepared  for  it,  by  previous  industrial  development, 
and  therefore  could  not  comprehend  it,  nor  adopt  it. 
Altruism  which  includes  all  unselfishness  and  ethics, 
can  only  arise  when  men  see  the  necessity  of  doing 
away  with  war  in  all  its  forms,  and  when  the  true 
value  of  life  is  comprehended.  It  is  conceived,  only 
when  peace  is  discovered  to  be  more  economically 
valuable  than  war.  In  order  to  maintain  peace, 
cruelty,  oppression,  and  all  forms  of  selfishness,  must 
be  either  entirely  abolished,  or  exercised  in  such  a 
way,  as  not  to  appear  to  the  victim,  as  such.  In 
order  that  men  may  live  and  thrive  together,  each  indi- 
vidual must  concede  many  of  his  individual  rights 
and  desires  to  the  maintenance  of  the  bond  of  com- 
munity. This  inspires  him  with  an  unselfishness  which 
grows,  as  his  conceptions  of  what  is  best  for  his  own 
welfare,  reveal  to  him,  that  this  means  the  welfare  of 
the  community  at  large.  As  he  grows  old,  he  needs 


ETHICS   AND    ALTRUISM  275 

the  care  of  others,  therefore,  he  cares  for  others.  He 
and  his  are  liable  to  become  insane,  or  if  the  insane 
generally  are  left  to  roam  at  large,  his  life  is  in 
danger,  therefore,  he  contributes  to  the  establishment 
of  insane  asylums.  In  short,  whatever  preserves  the 
integrity  and  strength  of  the  community,  contributes 
to  his  own  comfort  and  health.  This  is  the  principle 
at  the  bottom  of  the  evolution  of  unselfishness  and 
altruism.  It  is  not  a  condition  produced  by  the  reason 
of  man,  but  the  reason  is  the  product  or  effect  of  the 
conditions.  Man  is  forced  to  reason  thus,  when  he  is 
able  to  perceive  that  nature  so  operates,  and  his  pres- 
ervation and  perpetuation  require  him  to  reason  thus 
After  the  principle  is  once  fixed  in  the  mind  of  man,  and 
he  has  thus  reasoned  for  generations,  man  naturally  in- 
creases the  forms  or  phases  of  it.  He  then  invents  many 
subtle  forms  of  altruism.  The  forms  of  public  charity, 
and  numerous  societies,  organized  for  its  application, 
are  constantly  increasing,  and  these  give  plausibility  to 
the  contention  that  man's  reason,  and  his  religion,  are 
changing  the  natural  law  of  evolution,  in  the  survival 
of  the  fittest.  But  the  principle  itself  was  first  estab- 
lished by  natural  evolution.  As  society  becomes  more 
complex,  so  does  the  growth  of  the  principle  become 
more  complex.  Just  as  nature  first  established  the 
principle  of  the  birth  and  growth  of  organisms,  and 
afterwards  man  invented  the  garden,  and  farm,  where, 
by  artificial  selection,  he  has  produced  variations  of 
both  animals  and  vegetables,  unknown  in  the  wild 
state,  so  he  has  produced  variations  of  the  principle  of 
natural  morality  in  civilization,  unknown  to  primitive 
tribes  of  men.  But  in  both  instances  his  method,  or 
reasoning,  has  always  been  derived  from  his  corre- 
spondence with  the  laws  of  nature  in  doing  the  same 


276  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

things.  He  cannot  depart  very  far  from  nature's 
method  until  there  comes  failure  and  disaster.  How- 
ever much  his  human  sympathy  may  lead  him  to 
lighten  the  weakness  of  old  age,  he  cannot  make  it 
young  and  strong  again.  However  much  he  may  protect 
the  insane,  the  blind,  the  deaf  and  dumb,  he  cannot 
prevent  the  same  causes  that  brought  on  these  abnor- 
malities from  continuing  to  bring  them  on.  However 
much  he  may  try  to  make  the  weak  equal  to  the  strong, 
in  perpetuating  the  race,  and  molding  the  world,  he 
always  fails  to  thus  reverse  the  law  of  evolution.  So 
that,  however  much  it  may  appear  to  us  that  man's 
efforts  or  reason  have  introduced  a  new  principle 
opposed  to  the  law  of  evolution,  in  the  natural  survival 
of  the  fittest,  yet  it  is  not  so,  in  reality. 

All  the  scientific  efforts  of  the  hydraulic  engineer  to 
carry  water  to  the  arid  land  have  had  no  effect  on  the 
natural  law  that  water  must  run  down,  and  not  up. 
Neither  can  the  efforts  of  man,  to  mold  society,  affect 
the  principle  of  "natural  selection  in  the  survival  of  the 
fittest."  The  farmer,  in  the  semi  arid  region,  when 
he  has  carefully  tilled  the  soil  and  raised  several  crops, 
frequently  thinks  that  the  rainfall  has  been  increased 
thereby.  If  this  were  so,  then  the  efforts  of  man  would 
control  a  seeming  law  of  nature.  He  has  only  succeeded 
in  utilizing  the  former  amount  of  rainfall,  and  not  in 
increasing  the  amount  of  it  The  average  rainfall,  at 
any  locality,  will  likely  remain  what  it  is  now.  however 
many  trees  are  planted,  or  whatever  may  be  the  area 
cultivated.  Irrigation  has  been  practiced  for  two  or 
three  thousand  years,  on  the  lower  Nile.  But  the  rain- 
fall there  has  not  increased. 

"Self-sacrifice  is  no  less  primordial  than  self-preserva- 
tion." (Spencer) .  The  view  must  be  taken  that  life  and 


ETHICS    AND    ALTRUISM  277 

morals,   as  well  as  "mind,"  are  natural  products  of 
antecedent  natural  causes. 

The  dependence  of  each  organism  of  the  innumerable 
host,  upon  all  the  rest,  compels  it  to  regard,  by  the  very 
deepest  law  of  nature,  the  welfare  of  all.  This  is 
altruism  in  the  highest  degree.  Conscious  altruism  in 
man,  arises  from  this  law.  But  when  an  organism 
rises  to  the  complexity  of  man,  whose  psychic  life  is  so 
complex  as  to  appear  as  "free  will,"  the  units  combine 
into  society  for  self  protection  by  the  like  natural  law, 
and  thus  conscious  altruism  arises  naturally  from  the 
necessary  dependence  of  each  one  upon  the  all.  Thus 
ethics  and  altruism  naturally  evolve  from  antecedent 
causes  that  are  perfectly  natural.  It  is  the  survival  of  the 
fittest  that  makes  at  first  the  family,  then  the  tribe, 
then  the  state  and  the  nation,  ending  in  the  highest 
form  of  religion,  the  brotherhood  of  man,  and  even 
more  than  that. — the  unity  of  all  nature, — the  absolute 
dependence  of  each  unit,  upon  the  well-being  and 
adaptation  under  the  existing  law  of  evolution  of  every 
other  unit. 

' '  Nothing  in  the  world  is  single 
All  things  by  a  law  divine 
In  one  another's  being  mingle." — (Shelly). 

Man  is  only  a  product  of  elemental  morality.  In  him 
it  finds  its  highest  expression;  but  without  the  natural 
morality  accompanying  all  the  forms,  whether  inorganic 
or  organic,  from  which  man  has  evolved,  there  could 
be  no  such  organism  as  man. 

THE  FUTURE  OF  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION. — The  civilization 
of  the  past  was  an  evolution  by  natural  selection, 
or  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  handicapped  by  super- 
stition and  credulity.  It  was  at  every  stage  an  adapta- 


278  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

tion  of  a  limited  intellect  to  a  correspondingly  limited 
environment.  The  defects  of  the  present  form  of  it 
can  be  accounted  for,  on  the  same  principle,  and 
they  cannot  be  claimed  as  not  defects,  because  of  their 
historical  persistency  So  in  the  same  manner  will  the 
civilization  of  the  future  be  evolved.  It  seems  that  the 
evolution  toward  the  natural  will  be  much  more  rapid, 
in  the  future,  than  it  has  been  in  the  past;  because  of 
the  numerous  scientific  truths  revealed  to  the  people, 
and  because  the  number  now  doing  their  own  thinking 
is  so  much  greater  than  ever  before.  When  the  thinkers 
and  reasoners  become  numerous  enough,  the  less 
informed  majority  will  follow  in  the  same  line  of 
thought.  It  will  be  necessarily  a  higher  and  better  type 
of  civilization,  and  at  the  same  time  there  will  be  a 
very  much  higher  or  a  more  scientific  conception  of 
man's  relation  to  the  universe.  It  is  probable  that  the 
order  of  evolution  will  be: 

First : — A  better  system  of  education,  wherein 
biology,  psychology  and  sociology,  especially  the  bear- 
ings of  these  sciences  on  the  welfare  and  happiness  of 
the  human  race,  will  replace  all  the  fantastic  and 
unreal,  in  the  present  system  of  education. 

Second: — Following  the  above,  but  apparently  co- 
existent with  it,  as  the  intellect  expands  by  such 
studies,  the  idea  of  the  personal  in  natural  and  human 
phenomena,  will  give  place  to  the  idea  of  the  natural 
and  impersonal. — the  inductive  method  of  dealing  only 
with  facts.  A  brain  will  eventually  be  evolved  whose 
"pure  experience"  will,  as  Avenarius  expresses  it,  be 
"deproblematized".  In  other  words,  it  will  perceive 
only  an  object,  a  fact,  or  a  condition  that  is  true;  a 
perception  that  Avill  be  common  to  all  sane  people. 
Delusion  will  have  disappeared. 


ETHICS    AND    ALTRUISM  279 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  natural  code  of  ethics 
consists  of  man's  constant  readjustment  to  his  environ- 
ment ;  in  other  words,  his  reactions  to  constant  impres- 
sions. These  are  as  numerous  and  persistent  almost,  as 
his  heart  beats.  They  must  be  regulated  by  the  cor- 
relations made  by  these  impressions  in  the  brain,  and 
constitute  tlte  aggregate  of  his  life  and  habits.  It  is 
thus  apparent  that  these  cannot  be  reduced  to  a 
universal  written  code.  The  details  must  be  left  to  the 
local  laws  and  customs  of  each  community. 

There  is  too  much  difference  in  the  structure  and 
function  of  human  beings  to  expect  that  the  same  cus- 
toms will  obtain  in  all. 

The  principle  alone  can  be  stated  in  a  treatise  like 
this.  Each  response  to  an  impression  must  be  that 
which  will  best  meet  the  requirement  of  the  law  of 
evolution,  the  survival  only  of  that  which  is  fittest 
under  all  circumstances  for  the  welfare  of  the  race, 
even  to  the  sacrifice  of  the  individual. 

Righteousness,  including  ethics,  -will  develop  incident- 
ly  and  equally  with  the  above-mentioned  forms  of  suc- 
cessive evolution.  A  man's  proper  relations  become 
apparent  to  him  by  scientific  study  in  psychology  and 
cognate  science.  It  will  become  equally  apparent  that 
the  highest  ethics  will  be  man's  best  correspondence 
with  that  wide  environment,  with  which  the  intellect 
of  man  is  capable  of  coming  into  correspondence ;  or,  in 
other'words,  the  natural  use  of  all  the  functions  he  now 
has,  and  those  he  is  likely  to  acquire  in  the  future. 


CHAPTER  XI 
A  FINAL  WORD 

THE  foregoing  chapters  contain  only  the  merest 
outline  of  the  great  principles  of  universal 
evolution.  Each  chapter  could  be  elaborated 
into  a  volume  of  facts  of  current  events,  in 
proof  of  the  principles.  But,  in  a  popular  treatise  of 
the  subject,  space  will  not  permit.  It  will  be  well,  how- 
ever, to  succinctly  retrace  or  summarize  the  argument 
in  as  brief  space  as  possible. 

In  the  universe  of  phenomena  there  are  only  two 
phases — self  and  not-self.  The  perceiver,  and  the  objec- 
tive phenomena  perceived,  are  the  fundamental  aspects 
of  one  great  truth, — the  integration  and  dissipation  of 
some  thing,  which,  for  a  better  definition,  we  divide 
into  two  aspects,  called  matter  and  motion.  But  scien- 
tists are  fast  concluding  that  they  are  one  in  reality, 
and  that  one  is  motion.  The  hypothesis  has  been  for- 
mulated, that  whatever  this  oneness  of  matter  and 
motion  may  be,  it  probably  had  no  origin,  and  that, 
in  its  primitive  state  it  was  in  the  form  of  nebulae  of 
attenuated  gas,  from  which,  by  the  laws  of  energy,  the 
present  solar  system,  and  all  systems  in  the  universe 
have  been  evolved.  The  original  nebulae  were  com- 
posed of  atoms  which  are  mere  centers  of  energy. 
The  fundamental  property  of  these  centers  of  energy, 
is  condensation. 

Hence,  the  condensation  of  the  nebulous  matter  into 
the  globes,  now  moving  in  space,  and  all  the  phe- 
nomena, thence  resulting,  have  been  simply  the  opera- 
tion of  a  principle,  immanent  in  the  matter  itself.  The 

280 


A    FINAL    WORD  281 

globe,  on  which  we  dwell,  is  a  condensed  portion  of  a 
nebula.  The  sun,  and  the  other  planets  of  the  solar 
system,  including  the  asteroids,  are  the  remaining  parts 
of  the  same  nebula.  The  sun  is  still  condensing,  and 
the  heat  of  it  is  produced  by  the  arrested  motion  of 
the  atoms,  in  process  of  condensation.  All  these  bodies 
are  composed  of  essentially  the  same  elements ;  and 
these  elements  are  the  chemical  combinations  of  the 
original  centers  of  energy,  in  proportions  varying,  with 
the  nature  of  the  resulting  element.  After  the  earth 
had  attained  its  present  outlines,  density,  temperature, 
and  differentiated  its  components  into  what  are  com- 
monly called  solid,  fluid,  and  gas,  that  is,  into  earth, 
water  and  air,  life  began  to  appear  in  the  lowly  forms 
of  vegetation.  From  this  humble  beginning,  all  the 
forms  of  the  vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms,  have  been 
slowly  evolved.  This  evolution  has  occurred  from  the 
comparatively  homogeneous,  in  apparently  an  unde- 
signed progression,  from  the  simple  to  the  complex,  not 
in  a  straight  and  unswerving  upward  line,  but  by 
rhythm  of  motion,  which  seems  to  be  functional,  and 
universal,  in  all  natural  phenomena. 

This  progressive  evolution,  of  life  forms,,  is  accom- 
plished by  the  methods  of  heredity  and  variation,  fol- 
lowed by  natural  selection.  These  laws  operate  effec- 
tively in  producing  more  and  more  complex  organisms, 
by  eliminating  the  weak,  by  a  process  which  we  call 
death.  That  is,  by  integrating  matter  into  forms,  and 
dissipating  it  back  into  its  former  condition.  A  'con- 
stant alternation  of  development,  by  integration  of 
matter,  and  death  by  dissipation  of  it,  during  which 
the  motion,  or  function  accompanying  the  two  opposite 
methods,  undergoes -the  reverse  process,  has  been  going 
on  from  the  formation  of  the  first  vegetable  cell  to  the 


282  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

present  time.  This  integration  of  organic  matter 
occurs  by  a  multiplication  of  cells,  and  a  differentia- 
tion of  the  growth,  into  the  heterogeneousness  of  organ- 
isms. Thus,  the  great  variety  of  species,  now  existing, 
have  been  produced  by  the  adaptation  of  an  occasional 
variation  in  the  anatomy,  and  a  corresponding  varia- 
tion in  the  physiology,  of  the  hereditary  form.  "When- 
ever the  variation  proved  of  benefit  to  its  possessor,  in 
its  struggle  for  existence,  that  organism  proved  more 
likely,  than  its  less  favored  companions,  to  live  and 
multiply.  This  is  the  principle  of  natural  selection,  in 
the  struggle  for  existence,  and  is  the  theory  now  gener- 
ally held  by  scientists,  as  the  one  most  likely  to  ac- 
count for  the  origin  of  new  species. 

The  evolution  of  what  is  called  physical  life  has  long 
been  recognized,  and  acquiesced  in,  by  the  scientifically 
educated,  but  for  a  long  time  after  this  acquiescence, 
the  psychical  life  was  still  deemed  unexplainable  by 
natural  laws.  Modern  psychology,  however,  has  dem- 
onstrated the  dependence  of  psychical,  or  as  formerly 
called  mental  life,  upon  the  physical,  and  that  these 
phenomena  are  as  much  under  the  operation  of  natural 
law,  as  is  physical  life.  This  is  so,  whether  psychology 
is  to  be  considered  a  science  in  itself,  or  a  branch  of 
physiology.  Whether  we  view  mentality  as  like,  or 
unlike,  the  condition  we  call  matter,  yet  the  facts  show 
that  they  are  inseparably  connected  in  function.  They 
so  perceptibly  fuse  that  it  is  impossible  to  distinguish 
the  line  of  separation.  Matter,  whether  in  body  tis- 
sue, or  in  brain  cells,  is  made  up  of  centers  of  energy. 
The  explosion  of  these  centers,  in  the  brain,  releases 
the  energy  in  the  form  of  psychical  phenomena.  The 
substrate  of  mental  operations,  as  Wundt  calls  the 
nervous  structure,  is  a  form  of  specialized  matter,  and 


A    FINAL    WORD  283 

passes  through  certain  motions  simultaneously,  with 
every  psychical  phenomenon.  This  phenomenon  is  so 
closely  connected  with  the  motion  of  the  nerve  tissue, 
as  not  to  be  distinguished,  as  a  separate  existence. 
The  complexity  of  the  matter  is  perfectly  parallel,  with 
the  complexity  of  the  phenomenon.  The  effect  of  the 
molecular  motion  or  the  releasing  of  potential  energy, 
of  the  living  nerve  tissue,  is  the  mentality,  and  with- 
out this  motion  it  is  not  apparent  to  the  senses.  In 
fact,  we  do  not  perceive  anything  in  the  operation, 
except  some  material  facts,  i.e.,  the  movements,  of  the 
material  body  in  thinking,  in  articulating,  or  writing 
words,  or  in  muscular  motion.  The  whole  perceptible 
operation  of  reasoning  is  the  production  of  images, 
and  the  fusing  of  them  in  the  brain  cortex.  These 
images  are  produced  by  objective  things,  the  sensations 
of  which  are  carried  by  molecular  motion,  or  a  move- 
ment of  nerve  elements,  similar  thereto,  to  the  brain. 

So,  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance,  that  the  phenomen- 
ism of  consciousness,  be  largely  considered  in  its  rela- 
tion to  its  substrate  of  neural  structure,  and  in  its  con- 
formity to  the  natural  laws  of  evolution.  For,  if  it 
is  a  function  of  neural  structure,  and,  in  its  more  com- 
plex and  obscure  form,  is  never  manifested,  except  in 
connection  with  a  like  complex  and  obscure  physical 
structure,  well  known  to  brain  anatomists,  as  the  cere- 
brum, then  it  must  be  deemed  as  much  a  product  of 
natural  evolution  as  the  cerebrum  is.  Here  science 
finds,  as  in  the  physical  realm,  only  phenomena,  and 
postulates  only  a  reign  of  natural  law.  Not  only  the 
normal  workings  of  the  psychical  life,  but  the  abnormal 
phenomena,  such  as  illusions,  hallucinations,  hypnotic 
states,  somnambulism,  etc.,  are  shown,  by  the  experi- 
ments of  the  psychologists,  to  be  explainable  by  natural 


284  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

law.  The  idea,  that  any  psychical  phenomena,  al- 
though so  faint  as  to  be  called  subconscious,  and  there- 
fore very  obscure,  can  have  a  doubtful  thither  side 
opening  into  a  supernatural  realm,  is  a  surrender  of 
the  postulate  of  "the  universal  reign  of  natural  law,  in 
all  phenomena. 

All  real  progress  in  human  affairs  is  a  natural  pro- 
cess of  reasoning,  by  which  one  is  converted  to  a  new 
belief,  from  a  former  abnormal  one.  Eeasoning  is  the 
fusing  of  images  naturally  made  upon  the  brain, 
whether  real,-  or  hallucinative.  Whatever  appears 
other  than  natural  in  the  psychic  process,  can  be  par- 
alleled by  the  mystery  once  surrounding  certain  physi- 
cal phenomena,  whose  natural  cause  is  now  well  under- 
stood. Since  modern  psychologists  have  written  upon 
these  subjects,  all  thinkers  have  modified  their  views 
of  them.  "Faculties"  have  given  place  to  "brain 
function."  "Mind"  and  "soul"  have  been  renamed 
"consciousness."  "Reason,"  "Memory,"  "Imagina- 
tion," "Will,"  are  presentations,  or  images  fusing  with 
immediate  sensations,  forming  physiologically,  those 
psychological  effects  named  perceptions,  conceptions, 
and  ideas.  Some  psychologists  are  substituting  "im- 
mediate experience"  for  the  term  "consciousness." 
"The  self"  is  no  longer  an  entity  that  thinks.  "I 
think."  as  a  phrase,  is  imperceptibly  fading  into  the 
more  logical,  and  rational,  "it  thinks." — being  the 
reactions  of  the  brain  structure,  to  sensations  and 
images.  We  recognize,  not  by  intuition,  but  by  the 
physiological  exercise  of  the  old-fashioned  senses  of 
touch,  sight,  hearing,  taste  and  smell.  Our  instincts 
are  inherited  automatic  reflexes  of  nerve  structure. 
In  short,  all  former  so-called  mental  acts  are  the  reac- 
tions of  the  brain  centers  to  sensations,  by  which,  such 


A    FINAL    WORD  285 

centers  are  indifferently  excited  to  produce  images  of 
former  like  sensations.  These  latter  images,  fusing 
with  the  immediate  sensation,  produce  a  new,  and  dif- 
ferent image,  which  is  the  idea,  the  perception,  the 
conception,  and  abstraction,  or  the  motor  action.  Of 
course,  there  are  idealists,  who  refuse  to  believe  that 
these  psychic  effects  can  be  produced  by  the  machinery 
of  the  nerve  structure.  They  say,  the  psychic  phe- 
nomena are  accompanied  by  a  nerve  motion,  but  the 
two  are  only  parallel,  and  simultaneous,  that  the  two 
operations  are  independent.  They  say  that  a  machine, 
that  turns  out  a  piece  of  cloth  different  in  pattern  from 
the  material  put  in  it,  is  not  the  maker  of  the  pattern. 
But  a  machine  made  by  human  hands  is  altogether  dif- 
ferent from  the  human  brain.  For  convenience,  we 
call  the  brain  a  device,  but  it  is  a  natural  growth,  not 
made  with  hands.  It  is  a  self-acting  organism.  But 
a  machine  is  not  self-acting,  and  has  to  be  operated  by 
a  human  brain.  Of  course,  then  the  human  brain  is 
the  maker  of  the  pattern  turned  out  by  the  machine. 
But  if  the  brain  is  the  maker  of  both  the  machine  and 
the  pattern,  it  can  also  make  its  own  ideas.  The  eyes, 
which  see  the  making  of  the  machine  and  the  pattern, 
do  not  see  any  hands  making  the  brain  and  its  ideas. 
The  evidence,  in  the  one  case,  is  not  applicable  to  the 
other.  There  is  no  parallel. 

The  limitations  of  human  knowledge  are  the  results 
of  man's  inefficient  nervous  structure,  and  its  limited 
correspondence  with  environment  through  only  five 
peripheral  sense  organs.  These  sense  organs  receive 
impressions  from  phenomena  only,  and  are  limited  to 
them.  The  images  resulting  from  these  impressions 
formed  on  the  cortex  of  the  brain  centers,  and  fusing 
into  perception,  conception,  and  reason,  are  not  the 


286  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

images  of  the  reality  but  of  relativity  only.  We  per- 
ceive what  suffices  to  us  for  the  thing  itself,  by  certain 
attributes,  or  properties,  such  as,  form,  color,  resist- 
ance, motion,  sound,  odor,  and  taste.  The  thing,  thus 
denned,  is  real  to  the  perceiver,  and  is  the  "thing-in- 
itself"  to  us.  We  know  ourselves  by  the  functions  of 
our  bodies.  What  we  have  been  calling  "mind"  is 
not  an  entity  distinct  from  the  body,  but  is  best  per- 
ceived as  the  psychical  function  of  the  individual  or- 
ganic body,  considered  as  a  phenomenal  ego.  Con- 
sciousness is  a  condition,  ever  varying,  produced  by 
the  images  above  spoken  of,  forming,  and  reforming, 
in  the  sensory  centers,  by  the  incidence  of  objective 
energy. 

How  LANGUAGE  Is  EVOLVED. — In  ordinary  conversa- 
tion, and  in  nearly  all  literature,  the  mind  is  spoken 
of  as  a  producing  entity,  distinct  from  the  body. 
Language,  descriptive  of  this  phenomenon,  has  been 
evolved  from  this  conception.  That  is,  there  is  very 
little  language  capable  of  expressing  other  than  the 
idea  of  entity,  and  the  power  of  that  entity  to  pro- 
duce the  psychic  phenomena,  every  moment  observed. 
For  instance,  the  phenomenon  of  "absentmindedness" 
is  ordinarily  spoken  of  as  "the  wandering  of  the  mind." 
That  is,  it  is  a  thing. — an  entity, — that  moves  away 
from  the  body,  or,  at  least,  leaves  the  object,  to  which 
the  eyes,  or  some  of  the  senses,  are  directed.  This 
language  does  not  express  the  psychical  phenomenon 
taking  place,  because  the  present  conception  of  that 
phenomenon  is  of  such  recent  origin.  That  is  a  pro- 
cess, unconsciously  and  instantaneously  occurring  in 
the  appropriate  brain  centers,  but  which,  in  conse- 
quence of  its  being  heretofore  unknown  to  the  real 
makers  of  language,  viz.,  the  masses  of  articulate  be- 


A   FINAL    WORD  287 

ings,  requires  a  new  application  of  words,  in  a  very 
unusual,  and  long  drawn  out  combination.  In  reading 
a  book,  for  example,  the  flow  of  thought  is  maintained, 
by  a  constant  succession  of  sensations  of  words,  first 
on  the  retina,  and  thence  transferred,  by  the  afferent 
nerves,  to  the  optical  centers  of  the  cortex,  upon  which 
the  image,  of  them  is  formed.  These  sensitive  images 
call  up,  or  excite,  by  the  law  of  association,  other  simi- 
lar images;  but  connected,  or  fused  with  these  latter 
images,  are  all  the  images  of  former  sensations  called 
experiences,  with  these  same  words,  by  which  the  mean- 
ing of  them  have  been  derived;  such  as  the  touch,  and 
reading  of  books,  the  hearing  of  definitions  of  teachers, 
and  all  the  mechanism  of  school  education.  The  mem- 
ory images,  render  the  meaning  of  words  and  sentences, 
clear  to  the  reader  in  proportion  to  his  former  expe- 
riences with  the  subject,  about  which  he  is  reading. 

These  images  of  former  sensations,  by  similarity, 
and  contiguity,  having  fused  into  a  new  associative 
image,  heretofore  called  memory,  which  being  similar 
to  the  image  immediately  produced  by  the  present  sen- 
sation coming  from  the  book,  fuses  also  with  that,  and 
the  two  images  form  a  resulting  image,  called  a  per- 
ception of  the  ideas  of  the  author.  This  is  the  con- 
tinual psychical  process  of  forming  thoughts  upon,  not 
only  the  contents  of  a  book,  in  reading,  but  upon  any 
objective  thing,  capable  of  producing  a  sensation  upon 
any  peripheral  sense  organs,  and  through  them,  upon 
the  brain.  It  must  be  plain,  from  this  explanation, 
why  it  is  so  difficult  for  the  young  child  to  learn  to 
read.  The  child  is  lacking  in  memory,  and  former 
experience ;  therefore,  no  image  of  memory  is  aroused. 
Now,  if  the  associative  image  thus  formed  upon  the 
matured  brain,  from  past  experiences,  happens  to  be 


288  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

so  dissimilar  to  the  present  sensitive  image,  as  not  to 
fuse  with  it,  the  resulting  perception  of  the  idea,  in- 
tended to  be  conveyed  by  the  language  of  the  book, 
does  not  take  place,  and  the  attention  is  absorbed  with 
the  non-fusing  image  of  memory, — the  mind  is  said  to 
"wander  from  the  subject."  It  is  plain,  that  the  latter 
term  being  based  upon  the  conception  of  the  mind,  as 
an  entity,  which  directly  produced  the  conception,  is 
comprehensible  to  every  one  who  takes  this  view  of 
the  nature  of  the  mind,  and  that  means  the  great  mass 
of  the  people.  And  being  concise,  as  well  as  compre- 
hensible, it  is  the  one  commonly  used.  But  it  is 
founded  upon  a  misconception  of  the  phenomenon.  It 
is  further  plain,  that  until  the  majority,  of  those  who 
make,  and  use  language,  comprehend  the  scientific, 
and  actual  process  of  the  nervous  functioning  of 
thought,  and  reasoning,  there  will  be  little  effort  to 
frame  a  language  that  will  convey  that  idea,  in  the 
short  method  expressed  by  the  term  "the  mind  wan- 
ders." But  the  evolution  of  language  is  trending  in 
that  direction.  The  evolution  follows  the  idea,  and 
something  like  this  will  express  the  true  idea,  viz., 
instead  of  saying  "the  mind  wanders"  it  will  be.  "a 
new  image  absorbs  the  attention."  But  this  will  not 
occur,  until  the  principles,  of  physiological-psychology, 
are  nearly  as  well  understood,  as  is  now  the  ordinary 
conception  of  the  mind.  This  process  of  making  lan- 
guage is  illustrative  of  how  all  language  has  evolved. 
The  same  argument  will  apply  to  all  phenomenism. 
The  scientific  view  of  all  phenomena  must  replace  the 
present  views,  before  language  can  be  changed  from 
the  present  short  cut,  but  expressive  terms  of  present 
perception,  to  equally  short  cut,  and  expressive  terms  of 
a  scientific  perception.  There  lies  beneath  the  conscious- 


A   FINAL   WORD  289 

ness  of  a  mature  person  a  slumbering  knowledge,  that  is 
aroused  only  by  the  image  of  the  words,  so  arranged, 
as  to  embody  the  elements,  or  at  least  one  element,  of  that 
knowledge.  This  sub-consciousness  or  sub-attention,  is 
the  result  of  former  work,  in  investigation  of  analo- 
gous theses, — the  residuum  of  education  in  science.  It 
is  evident,  that  language  has  evolved  from  perception 
and  conception.  Words  symbolize  the  "pure  expe- 
rience" of  the  mind.  Lower  animals  reason  in  their 
way,  and  convey  ideas  without  articulate,  or  written 
words.  But  there  are  forms  of  reasoning  in  its  higher 
human  conditions,  that  would  seem  to  be  impossible 
without  language,  with  which  to  make,  and  hold,  the 
psychical  continuity.  It  seems  that  the  language  suc- 
ceeds, not  precedes,  the  conception.  Some  authors 
contend  that  "the  schematic  products  of  ideational 
construction,"  meaning  the  higher  ideas  of  normative 
science,  cannot  be  produced  without  language,  as  an 
instrument  of  analysis,  and  synthesis.  Of  course,  we 
could  not  have  any  evidence,  of  the  product  of  any 
thought,  in  the  brain  of  another,  without  the  physical 
marks  expressive  of  those  thoughts;  and  there  is  no 
way  of  expressing  the  ideational  conceptions  appar- 
ently formed  in  the  cerebrum,  except  by  spoken,  or 
written  language.  The  simple  ideas  of  primitive  man, 
confined  almost  entirely  to  simple  concrete  things,  no 
abstractions,  could  be  conveyed  by  manual  signs,  and 
very  few  short  words.  But,  just  as  the  ideational 
centers  of  the  cerebrum,  and  the  conceptional  psychic 
phenomena  of  the  human  organism,  are  simultaneous 
in  appearance;  so  is  language  simultaneous  in  evolu- 
tion, with  "the  schematic  products  of  ideational  con- 
struction," that  is,  those  ideas  which  arise  in  the  nerve 
tissue  without  external  stimulation.  We  do  not,  first, 


290  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

manufacure  a  language  suitable  for  the  expression  of 
the  ideas,  and  then  mechanically  fit  the  idea  to  the 
language:  but  the  brain  centers,  the  idea,  and  the 
means  of  expression  are  evolved,  without  our  cogni- 
zance of  any  orderly  succession.  This  conception  is 
in  harmony  with  the  theory  of  monism  in  all  evolution. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  and  significant  phases  of 
evolution  is  that  of  language.  By  a  comparison  of  the 
early,  with  the  later  dictionary,  for  instance  Noah 
"Webster's  with  the  Century,  this  fact  will  be  very 
striking.  The  larger  number  of  words  in  the  latter, 
means  the  great  evolution  in  the  last  fifty  years  of  the 
perceptions  and  conceptions  of  the  users  of  language. 
This  is  especially  so  in  scientific  terms.  An  American 
Indian,  whose  conceptions  are  confined  to  his  physical 
needs,  which  are  as  simple,  almost,  as  those  of  an  ani- 
mal, will  carry  on  a  conversation  with  another  Indian, 
without  the  use  of  an  articulate  word,  by  the  sign 
language  alone.  But  he  will  use  no  abstractions,  or 
generalizations.  His  whole  vocabulary  is  confined  to 
the  concrete  nominals  and  the  simplest  verbs.  From 
that  language,  to  that  of  William  James,  in  his  lectures 
on  pragmatism  is  a  wider  .stretch,  than  from  the  wag- 
ging of  a  tail,  and  the  bark  of  an  intelligent  dog,  to  the 
sign  language  of  the  Indian.  Such  an  evolution  in 
language  is  significant  of  the  mental  evolution  between 
the  gens  of  savagery,  and  the  civilization  of  New 
England. 

Untrained  minds  are  incapable  of  understanding 
the  meaning  of  a  profound  treatise.  Words  alone  can- 
not convey  the  meaning,  without  the  previous  work  in 
the  intellectual  field.  A  trained  mind  is  therefore  in 
correspondence  with  a  more  complex,  and  subtler  en- 
vironment, one  that  brings  to  such  a  mind  a  wealth  of 


A   FINAL   WORD  291 

discernment,  and  comprehension,  far  beyond  the  reach 
of  those  less  educated.  But  there  must  always  exist  a 
structural  adaptation  to  such  training,  before  the  or- 
ganized memory  can  be  established.  Otherwise  the 
conceptual  images  will  never, — however  long  and  ardu- 
ous the  training, — coalesce  into  reason  and  will.  Hence 
the  substrate,  as  Wundt  calls  the  nerve  tissues,  is  the 
all-important,  and  abiding  thing,  in  psychical  phe- 
nomena. If  this  structure  is  lacking  no  amount  of 
training  will  suffice  to  make  potent  the  psychic  phe- 
nomenon. Neither  will  the  cosmic  energy  that  as- 
sumes, through  the  persistence  of  force,  such  a  multi- 
plicity of  effects  in  nature,  ever  assume  the  psychic 
form,  now  commonly  called  the  human  mentality  in 
this  highest  form  of  organized  memory,  unless  by  -way 
of  nerve  tissue  in  the  cerebral  centers. 

PHENOMENISM. — Phenomenism  is  the  psychological 
condition  existing  in  the  "mind,"  being  the  correspond- 
ence between  the  individual  and  his  environment.  It  is 
also  defined  as  ' '  self  "  and  "  not-self. "  "  Not-self ' '  is  the 
realm  of  phenomena  objective  to  our  sense  organs,  and 
reaches  all  things  making  sensations,  or  images  on  the 
brain  centers,  from  the  rays  of  the  farthest  fixed 
stars,  to  the  subtlest  reasonings,  and  the  most  esthetic 
judgments,  as  well  as  the  most  altruistic  relationships, 
implied  in  the  expression, — ' '  The  Brotherhood  of  Man. ' ' 
Therefore,  it  is  this  realm  of  phenomenism  that  re- 
ceives the  direct  attention  of  consciousness.  It  is  the 
really  knowable.  To  keep  in  proper  correspondence  with 
it,  is  the  highest  wisdom,  and  the  only  preventive  of  illu- 
sion and  delusion.  He  who  confines  his  attention  to  it  is 
sane.  The  insane  are  those  who  claim  correspondence 
with  things,  that  have  no  objective  existence.  All  life 
depends  on  correspondence  with  phenomena.  In  this 


292  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

sense,  the  term  life  includes  every  phase  of  physical,  and 
psychical  phenomena,  viz.,  those  aspects  of  life  treated  in 
biology,  psychology,  sociology,  and  ethics.  There  is  unity 
not  only  in  body  and  ' '  mind, ' '  but  in  the  laws  of  society 
and  of  ethics.  The  scientific  definition  of  one  is  the 
proper  designation  of  all.  Therefore  a  sensible  code  of 
ethics  is  the  natural  correspondence  of  self  with  not- 
self  ;  just  as  the  proper  definition  of  social  law  is  the 
correspondence  between  each  individual,  and  that  part 
of  his  environment,  included  in  the  term  mankind. 

BELIEFS  FOUNDED  ON  PHENOMENISM. — The  beliefs 
of  man  depend  upon  the  development  of  his  brain 
structure.  His  discrimination,  between  the  true  and 
false,  depends  upon  the  images  recalled  by  sensa- 
tion, in  the  higher  centers ;  and  the  coalescing  of  these 
images  into  other  conditions  called  perceptions.  It 
is  a  process  of  reasoning,  which  depends  upon  the 
quality  of  the  brain,  and  the  perfection  of  his  past 
experience ;  that  is,  the  quality  of  his  education  in  the 
past.  But  the  education  of  the  past  has  been  largely 
confined  to  either  immaterial  things,  or  fanciful  objec- 
tivity, or  to  the  realm  of  the  unknowable.  Fiction  has 
occupied  the  brain  too  frequently.  Mankind  has  been 
in  the  attitude  of  childhood  on  all  of  these  questions. 
It  readily  believed  anything  concerning  the  different 
phases  of  philosophy,  that  was  solemnly  asserted  by 
either  writers,  or  speakers,  who  appeared  to  have  a 
little  more  learning  and  boldness  than  the  masses. 
This  condition,  of  helpless  mental  dependence,  is  the 
same  as  that  of  childhood,  which  believes  in  the  actual 
reality  of  Santa  Glaus.  The  child  grows  out  of  this 
belief,  and  is  finally  convinced  that  the  saint  of  gifts 
is  only  a  subjective  generic  image  of  a  generous,  but 
natural  giver  of  good  things,  because  reason  takes  the 


A   FINAL    WORD  293 

place  of  emotion.  The  same  knowledge  will  come,  in 
time,  to  the  brain  of  mankind,  concerning  all  purely 
subjective  ideas.  It  is  not  required,  that  psychical 
phenomena  should  be  given  a  final  cause  in  order  to 
impress  their  power,  beauty,  utility,  and  adaptability 
upon  man.  Natural  cause  and  effect  are  the  great  facts 
of  life. 

There  is  now  an  environment  of  scientific  literature 
upon  these  questions  which  fifty  years  ago  did  not 
exist,  and  more  and  more  of  attention  is  being  given 
every  year,  by  students,  to  natural  phenomena.  While 
much  of  former  educational  influences  still  lingers,  even 
in  the  methods  and  ideas  of  the  ablest  scientists,  yet 
the  leaven  of  phenomenism  is  working. 

THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  KNOWLEDGE. — One  of  the  es- 
sentials of  human  knowledge  mentioned,  is,  that  im- 
pressions must  be  made,  upon  the  peripheral  sense 
organs  by  real  objects,  as  a  prerequisite  to  knowledge. 
In  the  mature  mind,  the  idea  may  be  initiated  in  one 
of  the  neural  centers ;  in  which  case,  it  will  be  some 
form  of  a  former  peripheral  sensation,  and  will  take 
the  form  of  an  image,  objective  to  consciousness.  In 
the  infant  brain  the  image,  other  than  color,  is  com- 
paratively meaningless.  But,  in  the  mature  mind,  it 
immediately  excites  a  molecular  motion,  which  pro- 
duces another  fainter  image,  similar  to  the  one  pro- 
duced by  the  sensation.  The  whole  process,  down  to 
the  final  perception,  is  so  instantaneous,  as  to  be  uncon- 
scious, and  therefore  impresses  the  ordinary  brain,  as 
being  not  physiological,  and  natural. 

Said  M.  Taine,  "Just  as  the  body  is  a  polypus  of 
cells,  the  mind  is  a  polypus  of  images."  Each  sense 
forms  images,  on  its  appropriate  brain  center,  these 
sensory  images  being  visual,  auditory,  tactile,  and 


294  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

motor.  The  type  of  the  image  resulting,  from  the  fus- 
ing of  these  images,  i.  e.,  the  percept,  depends  upon 
the  type  of  the  organism.  The  degree  of  perfection  of 
the  nerve  structure  determines  the  type  of  the  image. 
The  images,  are  the  same  as  the  feelings,  and  are  the 
result  of  a  process  of  nerve  molecular  motion. 

"To  know,  to  understand,  to  explain,  to  know  the 
why,  and  the  how  of  things, — all  this  culminates  in  an 
act  of  vision."  (Alfred  Binet.) 

But,  if  the  image  is  an  essential  element  of  human 
knowledge,  it  must  be  produced  by  a  sensation,  from 
what  to  us,  is  a  real  thing.  How  then  can  the  induced 
hallucinations  of  the  subject  of  hypnotism  be  ex- 
plained? The  experimenter  in  hypnotism  makes  the 
subject  see,  or  feel,  or  hear,  a  thing  that  does  not  exist. 
Likewise  the  hallucinations  of  the  insane  are  real 
images  produced  by  the  diseased  conductive  paths  of 
association,  upon  the  brain  centers.  When  insanity 
exists,  it  is  an  abnormal  working  of  the  molecules  of 
the  brain,  in  producing  images.  In  such  case,  the 
image  will  be  an  abnormal  one,  that  is,  a  defective,  or 
untrue  pattern  of  objectivity,  because  the  psychical 
device  is  out  of  order,  by  disease. 

In  the  subject  of  hypnotism,  who  has  a  weak  brain, 
the  first  image  may  be  produced  on  the  auditory  cen- 
ter, by  the  suggestion  of  the  operator,  e.  g.,  that  the 
subject  is  a  king.  The  conductive  cross  fibres  from 
the  visual  center  are  immediately  excited,  by  the  audi- 
tory image,  to  produce  any  former  experiences  the  sub- 
ject may  have  had  by  having  seen,  or  heard,  or  read 
of  a  king,  and  his  retinue, — in  short,  all  the  accom- 
paniments, and  surrounding  of  royalty.  The  variety 
and  complexity,  of  the  associative  image,  will  depend 
on  the  intelligence  of  the  subject.  The  absurdity,  and 


295 


incongruousness,  of  the  image,  that  is,  its  departure 
from  the  normal,  will  depend  on  the  degree  of  lesion 
of  the  brain  centers,  excited  to  the  production  of 
images.-  The  voice  of  the  operator  is  the  exciting  cause. 

Binet  and  Fere  have  proved  by  experiments  in  hypno- 
tism in  the  Saltpetriere  at  Paris,  France,  that  the 
hallucinations  are  images  formed  upon  the  sensory 
centers,  not  true,  of  course,  but  they  are  immediate 
experiences  of  the  deluded  subject.  It  is  the  same, 
with  illusions  of  the  sane,  e.  g.,  when  one  person  is 
mistaken  for  another.  The  similarity  of  the  immediate 
sensory  image  formed  upon  the  visual  center,  to  the 
one  it  recalls  from  memory,  produces  the  conclusion 
that  they  are  one  and  the  same,  by  the  two  images 
perfectly  fusing.  The  illusion  is  not  dissipated,  until 
a  new  image, 'formed  by  a  closer  inspection,  produces 
a  new,  and  truer,  perception  of  the  true  objective.  But 
the  hallucination,  whether  produced  in  hypnotism,  in- 
sanity, or  in  mistaken  identity,  brings  no  knowledge, 
because  it  lacks  the  essential  element  of  truthful  ob- 
jectivity. 

The  importance  of  this  process  of  sensation,  and 
images,  resulting  from  the  conveyance  of  the  sensation 
to  the  central  cortex,  and  to  the  memory  of  former 
sensations,  cannot  well  be  overstated,  because  memory 
replaces  the  absent  sensation,  and  is  thus  a  supple- 
mentary sense.  It  is  also  reasoning,  freed  from  the 
condition  of  time  and  space.  Memory  is  the  seeing 
of  the  past,  as  if  it  were  in  the  present,  and  reasoning, 
being  a  passage  from  the  known  to  the  unknown,  is 
seeing  the  future.  There  could  be  no  reasoning  with- 
out memory.  Perception,  being  thus  the  known  pro- 
duct of  three  images,  is  parallel  with  the  three  terms 
of  a  syllogism,  and  is  thus  reasoning  logically,  and  the 
same  as  knowledge. 


296  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

THE  NATURE  OF  CONSCIOUSNESS. — When  one  sees, 
and  touches,  a  thing,  the  experience  is  of  the  thing, 
or  fact,  or  problem,  not  of  the  image  on  the  cortex 
of  the  brain.  Whoever  harbors  a  delusion  as  true, 
is  passing  through  a  "pure  experience;"  as  much  so, 
as  one  who  sees  only  the  true.  As  to  the  conten- 
tion of  some  idealists  that  the  image,  or  presentation, 
is  the  only  real  thing,  this  conception  ignores  con- 
tinued external  existences.  The  idealist's  position  is 
that  an  object  under  study  in  any  of  the  physical 
sciences  is  merely  mental.  We  do  not  know  the  object, 
but  only  the  mental  conception  of  it.  This  seems  to 
imply  that  we  have  no  proof  of  existences.  The  ma- 
terialist holds  that  our  sense  impressions  are  satisfac- 
tory proof  of  external  existences,  that  these  impres- 
sions would  not  occur  unless  they  were  made  by  exist- 
ing things.  It  seems  that  this  theory,  viz. :  of  idealism, 
does  not  take  into  account,  that  the  forms  and  sub- 
stance of  the  environment  remain,  and  make  the  same 
impression  on  successive  generations  of  sensuous  or- 
ganisms, and  that  history  is  the  product  of  these  re- 
peated conceptions,  identical  in  facts,  impressing  the 
senses  of  succeeding  generations  of  men.  The  impres- 
sions from  the  same  forms  are  essentially  alike  to  suc- 
cessive generations.  The  perpetual  apparition  of  the 
physical  universe  persists  to  all  organisms  that  have 
lived  in  the  past,  and  that  will  live  in  the  future.  It 
is  true  that  the  only  knowledge  a  single  individual  has 
of  it  is  the  impression  it  makes  upon  his  sense  organs, 
but  that  it  exists  as  an  objective  relation  to  successive 
generations  of  men,  and  as  the  source  of  their  im- 
pressions, is  not  only,  a  scientific  view,  but  a  common 
sense  conception.  Of  course,  the  correspondence  be- 
tween the  individual,  and  the  objectivity,  depends  en- 


A   FINAL   WORD  297 

tirely  upon  sensations,  or  impressions.  Berkeley  con- 
tended that  everything  is  "mind, "  or  in  the  "mind. " 
He  conceded  that  things  may  exist  outside  the  human 
mind,  but  that  all  things  exist,  in  the  mind  of  God,  or 
in  infinite  "mind." 

EVOLUTION  THE  REAL  MAKER  OF  CIVILIZATION. — Such 
civilization,  as  we  have,  is  crystallized  around  the  emo- 
tions of  fear,  in  the  first  instance,  and  affection,  as  sec- 
ondary. But  mingled  with  the  subjective  conception  of 
finality,  and  really  underlying  it,  is  the  great  natural 
principle  of  evolution  that  had  been,  although  unrecog- 
nized as  such,  the  natural  force  that  had  evolved  the 
brain  of  man,  through  all  its  heretofore  uncertain,  and 
partial  correspondence  with  natural  phenomena,  to  its 
present  more  complex  correspondence,  in  spite  of  its 
persistent  hallucinations.  As  long  as  hallucinations 
linger  in  man 's  brain,  the  civilization  is  perhaps  the  best 
we  can  expect.  At  least,  the  advocates  of  evolution  must 
assume  that  this  artificial,  and  evanescent,  but  wide- 
spread human  orientation,  (the  present  civilization,  with 
its  hallucinations),  is  a  condition,  not  incompatible,  for 
the  time  being,  with  the  operation  of  natural  law,  in  the 
rapidly  changing,  and  gradually  enlarging,  circle  of  hu- 
man consciousness.  In  other  words,  it  has  its  part  to 
do  in  the  natural  interchange  of  matter  and  motion, 
which  we  call  evolution. 

History  is  almost  wholly  a  chronicle  of  the  delusions, 
that  have  controlled  mankind.  Some  of  these  are 
monarchy,  imperialism,  militarism,  constant  warfare, 
almost  universal  slavery.  Can  it  be  that  these  were 
merely  the  mobile,  automatic  expressions  of  the  vary- 
ing limitations  of  the  human  intellect?  If  so,  of  course, 
they  were  better  for  the  aggregate  welfare,  than  the 
ill  adapted, — an  unfit  higher  condition  of  natural  law 


298  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

and  ethics.  Yet,  if  the  rulers,  priests,  and  teachers,  all 
through  historical  time,  had  comprehended,  and  put 
in  use,  a  free  democratic  form  of  society,  or  govern- 
ment, in  which  the  natural  rights  of  man,  as  deter- 
mined by  the  people  themselves,  had  been  enforced  under 
the  Golden  Rule,  even  the  ignorant  masses  might  have 
been  much  more  able,  than  they  now  are,  to  govern 
themselves,  independent  of  hereditary  rulers,  and  unfit 
codes.  It  must  be  understood,  that  a  better  and  more 
intelligent  comprehension  of  a  code,  and  its  sanction 
in  phenomenism,  will  be  evolved,  only  when  the  ma- 
jority are  ready  for  it  intellectually.  This  change  will 
be,  and  should  be  only  gradual,  in  fact,  so  imperceptible 
as  not  to  produce  a  single  reaction.  This  is  the  way 
important  evolutions  take  place.  The  ancestral  line 
of  man  has  gradually  evolved  from  the  lower  to  higher 
orders;  not  only  in  historical  time,  but  in  all  time 
preceding  that;  from  the  formation  of  the  first  cell 
to  the  present  heterogeneous  organism,  classified  by 
Cuvier  is  bimana.  There  never  was  a  period  of  that 
evolution,  when  the  correspondence  between  the  or- 
ganism, and  its  environment,  was  perfect  in  a  way 
that  would  be  ideal.  But  it  was  the  best  for  the  or- 
ganism at  the  time.  It  was  this  that  maintained  the 
survival  of  the  fittest,  and  worked  out  in  a  natural  way, 
the  general  rhythmical  upward  tendency  of  the  line, 
toward  its  present  culmination  in  complex  man. 

METHODS  OF  EVOLUTION  ARE  BEST. — This  sentence  is 
used  in  "Origin  of  Species:"  "When  we  no  longer  look 
at  an  organic  being  as  a  savage  looks  at  a  ship, 
as  something  wholly  beyond  his  comprehension;  when 
we  regard  every  production  of  nature,  as  one  which 
has  had  a  long  history;  when  we  contemplate  every 
complex  structure  and  instinct,  as  the  summing  of 


A    FINAL    WORD  299 

many  contrivances,  each  useful  to  its  possessor,  in 
the  same  way,  as  any  great  mechanical  invention  is 
the  summing  up  of  the  labor,  the  experience,  the  reason, 
and  even  the  blunders  of  numerous  workmen;  when 
we  thus  view  each  organic  being,  how  far  more  in- 
teresting,— I  speak  from  experience, — does  the  study  of 
natural  history  become."  One  can  imagine,  in  com- 
parison with  this  feeling,  the  comparative  difference 
with  which  the  naturalist  views  the  history  of  an  or- 
ganism, in  all  its  parts,  useful  or  rudimentary,  which 
he  believes  was  created  outright.  Such  an  one  does 
not  try  to  find  the  genetic  history  of  his  specimen,  for 
an  origin  given,  shuts  out  all  interest  in  any  other; 
nor  do  extraordinary  structures  strike  such  a  natu- 
ralist with  any  wonder  or  curiosity.  As  a  classifier, 
Linneus  must  have  had  a  tedious  and  monotonous 
round  of  labor,  compared  with  the  interesting  investi- 
gations of  Darwin,  after  the  latter  began  to  study 
organisms  with  reference  to  their  affinity,  by  descent, 
and  modification.  The  reader  of  the  two  naturalists 
can  form  a  reasonable  idea  of  this  difference  in  their 
work,  which  perhaps  would  be  similar,  to  the  two 
ways  in  which  their  writings  interest,  and  please  the 
reader.  The  evolutionary  theory  is  not  only  very  much 
more  attractive  and  entertaining,  it  is  equally  more 
reasonable,  and  satisfactory.  It  is  interesting  to  know 
that  species  are  constantly  changing  in  form  and  func- 
tion. The  generation  which  will  succeed  the  present 
one  will  be  unlike,  in  several  characteristics,  the  pres- 
ent one.  We  are  living  in  the  quarternary  epoch.  This 
succeeded  the  tertiary,  and  the  flora  and  fauna  now, 
is  decidedly  different  in  many  ways  from  those  of  any 
preceding  epoch.  The  earth  is  a  little  different  in 
many  ways.  The  present,  or  the  past  can  never  be 


300  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

repeated.  A  change  will  always  be  taking  place.  It 
it  always  a  becoming,  that  will  never  be  finished.  It 
is  well  that  it  is  so.  If  it  were  not  well,  the  flux  would 
cease,  and  a  static  condition,  in  which  no  change  would 
occur  would  take  its  place.  A  mere  statement  of  the 
two  conditions  shows  how  much  more  desirable  the 
movement  is,  than  the  immutable  would  be.  Our  own 
lives  are  typical  of  the  flow  of  reality.  Life  is  an 
expectation,  a  reaching  out,  for  something  that  is  never 
so  tightly  grasped  as  to  be  held;  it  is  an  effort,  which 
must  satisfy  us,  because  it  really  accomplishes  that 
which  it  should  accomplish,  but  does  not  accomplish 
that  which  we  think  it  should.  Our  expectations  are 
not  quite  in  harmony  with  the  becoming  apparent  in 
nature,  but  the  becoming  continues  without  reference 
to  our  expectations,  and  we  are  kept  within  the  flux 
of  things  by  a  satisfaction,  brought  to  our  limited  in- 
tellects, by  the  little  round  of  organic  functions,  vouch- 
safed to  us  by  nature.  Our  bodies  are  in  the  flux, 
while  we  are  really  unconscious  of  the  cosmic  move- 
ment. It  is  our  glory,  that  we  are  part  of  nature  and 
reality.  We  could  not  survive,  as  beings,  if  we  lost 
touch  with  them  for  a  moment.  Our  present,  and  ulti- 
mate fate  depends  upon  this  connection.  We,  and  the 
universe,  have  one  origin,  and  one  destiny.  Human 
organisms  cannot  be  taken  out  of  the  general  flow  of 
reality,  and  subjected  to  a  capricious,  arbitrary,  sepa- 
rate philosophy. 

CREATION. — There  is  creation,  in  one  sense,  but  not 
out  of  nothing,  it  is  out  of  something.  This  crea- 
tion is  an  evolution  of  forms,  by  the  rhythm  of  motion, 
and  the  laws  of  energy.  These  forms  are  never  com- 
pleted, they  are  constantly  changing  to  other  forms, 
and  these  to  still  others.  This  is  the  flux  of  reality, 


A   FINAL   WORD  301 

into  which  intellect  has  scarcely  penetrated.  But 
whatever  it  is,  it  is  the  best  condition  for  our  welfare. 
We  seem  to  want  the  flow  to  stop,  and  every  form  to 
become  fixed,  so  that  our  feeble  intellects  can  have 
''time"  to  examine  them,  and  take  them  apart  by 
analysis,  and  put  them  together  again  in  our  own  way, 
by  synthesis.  Any  how,  our  philosophers  seem  to  have 
formed  their  theories  of  the  reality  upon  this  method, 
not  being  able  to  comprehend,  and  control  the  real 
method.  That  is  the  reason  that  all  systems  of  phil- 
osophy and  science  are  mechanistic,  and  anthropomor- 
phic. We  are  only  capable  of  conceiving,  that  nature 
works  as  man  works,  notwithstanding,  it  is  plain  to 
sight,  that  what  little  of  nature 's  work  is  done  on  this 
little  speck  of  matter  we  call  the  earth  is  not  done 
according  to  the  plan  of  man  at  all.  But,  what  is 
the  philosopher  and  scientist  to  do  else?  Simply  to 
adopt  the  most  plausible  theory,  and  then  continue  to 
reach  out  by  experimentation,  for  one  more  plausible. 
So  they,  in  their  mental  operations,  follow  the  sup- 
posed plan  of  nature,  in  the  flux  of  reality,  always  mak- 
ing, but  never  made. 

THE  REAL  BENEFACTORS  OF  MAN. — It  is  proper, 
that  a  few  words  should  be  said,  in  regard  to  the 
importance  of  the  work  that  original  investigators 
of  natural  phenomena  are  doing  for  mankind.  The 
laws  of  nature  are  so  necessary,  to  the  life  and  knowl- 
edge of  man,  that  he  who  makes  a  new  discovery  of 
them,  is  a  real  benefactor.  These  laws  which  are 
merely  the  inevitable  succession  of  cause  and  effect  in 
the  universe,  have  heretofore  been  so  little  studied  and 
known,  that  most  mankind  became  indifferent  through 
sheer  ignorance.  The  phenomenon  of  life,  on  a  globe 
like  ours,  being  in  unison  with  the  other  phenomena,  is 


302  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

conscious  of  the  close  connection.  How  few  organisms 
are  aware  that  if  this  connection  were  broken  for  a  mo- 
ment the  effect  would  be  fatal.  That  broken  connection 
is  death  to  the  organism.  The  more  man  knows,  of 
the  laws  of  this  connection,  the  better  he  will  be  en- 
abled to  so  adjust  himself  to  the  overpowering  forces 
of  nature,  as  to  make  his  correspondence  therewith  one 
of  immense  benefit  to  himself.  This  adjustment  is  not 
only  personal  to  himself,  but  must  be  done  largely 
through  the  race,  and  the  social  units,  which  have  inte- 
grated during  the  existence  of  man.  by  an  unconscious 
law  of  nature,  by  which,  like  units,  inorganic  and 
organic,  are  brought  together,  in  forms  like  the  solar 
system,  and  organisms  of  life.  Human  societies,  like 
tribes,  states  and  nations,  have  established  rules  and 
laws  for  their  own  government,  without  any  reference, 
of  a  conscious  nature,  to  the  cosmic  laws.  They  have 
done  this  because  they  did  not  study  natural  laws ;  and 
perhaps  in  most  instances,  their  intellects  could  not 
pursue  the  study  with  satisfaction.  The  result  has 
been,  that  innumerable  errors  have  been  made,  and  are 
now  existing.  Those  statesmen,  who  have  come  nearer 
than  others  .to  formulating  social  laws  for  the  guidance 
of  people,  in  their  aggregations,  according  to  natural 
law.  of  which  they  were  entirely  ignorant,  have  been 
given  great  public  honors,  and  are  the  subjects  of  his- 
tory and  literature.  But  when  Copernicus.  Galileo, 
Newton.  Adam  Smith,  J.  S.  Mill.  Darwin,  and  other 
great  thinkers,  made  discoveries  of  true  science,  little 
attention  was  paid  to  them,  by  the  people  at  large. 
The  first  Napoleon,  having  at  first  adopted  the  side  of 
good  government,  by  suppressing  the  French  revolu- 
tion, soon  made  himself  a  warrior,  at  the  head  of  a 
French  army  to  harrass  Europe;  and  when  victory 


A   FINAL   WORD  303 

perched  on  his  banners,  he  arbitrarily  made  himself  an 
emperor  and  despot.  His  downfall  soon  occurred,  be- 
cause he  was  ignorant  of  the  law  of  nature,  that  the 
strength  of  a  social  unit  resided  in  the  unit  characters 
of  the  aggregate,  just  as  it  does  in  the  atoms  and 
crystals  making  up  the  bodies  everywhere  in  nature. 
The  aggregate  body  is  nothing,  but  the  strength  of 
cohesion  of  the  atoms.  Napoleon  had  on  his  staff  a 
naturalist,  named  La  Place,  who  was  the  real  discov- 
erer and  mathematical  demonstrator  of  the  nebular 
theory,  of  the  making  of  solar  systems.  He  taught 
mankind  that  the  universe  is  a  natural  production,  by 
the  evolution  of  solid  bodies,  from  gaseous  nebulae. 
He  started  a  revolution  of  human  ideas,  which  is  grow- 
ing yet  in  strength.  He  brought  man  closer  to  his 
probable  origin,  and  taught  him  that  his  welfare  de- 
pended on  natural  cause  and  effect.  But  human  his- 
tory is  full  of  Napoleon  who  sneered  at  the  theories 
of  La  Place,  and  attributed  every  effect  to  a  personal 
cause.  That  was  a  reason,  unconscious  on  his  part, 
why  he  strove  to  be  a  personal  ruler  of  the  world.  But 
La  Place  whose  achievements,  compared  with  those  of 
Napoleon,  were  infinitely  superior,  remains  in  com- 
parative obscurity,  scarcely  mentioned  in  history.  The 
real  benefactors  of  mankind  are  the  discoverers  of 
abstract  principles,  which  applied  science  is  using,  to 
increase  human  comfort  and  happiness. 

When  the  people  of  the  world  evolve  to  the  intel- 
lectual conception  of  natural  cause  and  effect,  to  which 
they  now  pay  so  little  attention,  then  history  will  be 
a  chronicle,  not  of  the  infamous  careers,  and  abnormal 
ideas  of  such  as  Napoleon,  but  of  the  achievements  of 
such  men  as  La  Place,  Kepler,  Newton,  and  Darwin. 


304  UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 

UNIVERSAL  EVOLUTION. — It  is  thus  apparent  to  the 
student  of  the  phenomena  of  nature,  that  the  universe 
lias  been  evolved.  Everything  apparent  to  man,  from 
the  largest  astronomical  body,  down  to  the  minutest  or- 
ganism, has  developed  from  centers  of  energy,  so  minute, 
as  to  be  invisible,  in  the  most  powerful  microscope.  The 
principle  affects  every  phase  of  every  structure  and  func- 
tion. In  the  organic  kingdom  not  only  has  life  been 
evolved,  but  also  every  feature,  physical  and  psychical. 


VANCOUVER-  B. 


INDEX 


Atoms,    in   constant   movement, 

10,  11 

have  reason,  11,  174 
what  they  are,   12 
Aluminum,  an  element  of  earth, 

27 
Arrhenius  quoted,  31 

on  life  germs,  36 
Animals    and    vegetables    com- 
pared, 42,  98,   106 
Advances,  in   physical  sciences, 

47 
Anthropoids,    and   man    one    in 

structure,  50,  103,  178 
Australian  fauna,  60 

Stationary    since    Cretaceous 

period,   62 
Animals,    under    domestication, 

70 

have  only  organic  tools,  119 
Archebiosis,  94 
Anti-intellectualism,  99 
Abnormal  mentality,  109 
Altruism,  how  evolved,  115,  273 

and  natural  selection,  138 
Anabolism,  158 

Attributes,  evidences  of  reality, 
296 

Brain,  aggregation  of  atoms,  12 
cells  in,  fixed  in  number,  111, 

113 

have  memory,  etc.,  167 
effect  of  removal,  166 
difference  in  brains,  130 
Biology,  its   importance,   15 

its   development,   46 
Bergson,  Henri,  16,  17,  18,  99, 

177,   184,   185,   223 
Bichat,  the  great  scientist,  46 
Breeding  organisms,  70 
Bees,  how  propagated,  72 
Big-horned  sheep,  79 
Bird's  love  of  the  beautiful,  83 
Burke,   J.   B.,   96 
Behavior  controlled  by  nervous 
system,  106,  107,  113 


Binet,   Alfred,   129,    130 
Beagle,  the  voyage  of  with  Dar- 
win, 147 
Baldwin,  James  Mark,  upon  an 

objective-  thing,    188 
Beauty,  no  standard  of,  241 
Beliefs,    founded    on    phenome- 
nism,  292 

Creative  Evolution,  8,   16 
Changes  in  the  earth  constant, 

10 
Condensation,   the   principle   of 

matter,  22 

Collisions  of  stellar  bodies  pro- 
duce nebulae,  25 
Chamberlain,  T.  C.,  and  plane- 

tesimal   theory,   27 
Calcium,     an     element     of     the 

earth,  28 

Concordance,    of   planetary  mo- 
tion, 29 

not  perfect,  but  will  be,  30,  31 

Cellulose,      binding      vegetable 

cells,  but  not  animal,  53 

Cell  fertilization  and  growth,  54 

Classification,     of     Cuvier     and 

Linneus    biblical,    40 
more  or  less  artificial,  41,  43, 

44 

object  of,  45 
significance  of,  46 
Cuvier,  opposed  evolution,  41 
undermined,   59 
created  special  order  for  men, 

41 

on  the  nervous  system,  229 
Chlorophylian     power     of     the 

vegetable,   42,   98,   175 
Crystal   development   similar   to 

that  of  cell,  54 
Croll  's  theory  of  glaciers,  63,  64 
Consciousness,     how     produced, 

108,   111,   218,   219 
what  it  is,  169,  219,  et  seq., 

296 
defined,  240 


305 


306 


UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 


Civilized  environment,   132 
Correspondence     between     man 

and   environment,    157 
Chittenden,  E.  H.,  quoted,   162 
Colored  children  compared  with 

white,   195 
Civilization,      how      promoted, 

255,  256 

Christianity,   its   evolution,   274 
Creation,    out   of    something    is 

evolution,  300 

Darwin,  Charles  E,,  7,  8,  15,  40, 
45,  46,  48,  59,  68,  70,  82, 
103,  268 

Dualism,   12 

Duncan,  Bobert  K.,  34 

Darwin,  Erasmus,  conceived 
evolution,  40 

Development  of  an  embryo, 
53,  54 

Distribution,  of  vegetable 
forms,  63 

Death,   an  important   factor   of 

evolution,  77 

a  change  of  form,  217,  243, 
244 

De  Vries,  57 

his  work  and  theory,  89 
not    in    conflict    with    Dar- 
win, 90,  102 

Domestication,  enhances  intel- 
ligence in  animals,  124 

Dog,  intelligence  of,  124 

Dreams,   125,   126 

Descartes,   206,  211 

Evolution,  definitions  of,  13,  14 
not  mechanism,  19 
shown  by  fossil  forms,   55 
all  forms  of  alike,  137 
steps  of,   254 
an   equitable  law,   270 
the  real  civilizer,   297 
methods   of,   best,   298 

Evolutionists,  take  for  granted 
matter  and  motion,  16 

Error,  the  conception  of  inhar- 
monious working,  19 

Energy,  never  lost,  22,  26 


ever  changing  its  form,  165 
how  ascertained,  23 
work  of  phenomena,  23 
the  ultimate,  205 
Environment,   non-adaptive,   79, 

80 

Elements  of  the  earth 
80  in  number,  27 
same  throughout  universe, 

28 
each  give   distinct  lines  in 

spectrum,  28 

Earth,    its     age,     thickness    of 
rocks    and    heat     31,    32 
Embryology,   a  proof  of  evolu- 
tion,   36,    46 

England,  result  of  social  evolu- 
tion,  153 
of   what   it   should   consist, 

193,   194 
Education   in   schools,   of   great 

importance,  191 
Ego,     The,    the    human    body, 

210,   211 

the  relationship  of,  215 
Ethics,    man's    normal    adjust- 
ment,   238 
no  standard  of,  240 
not    confined    to   man,    250 
evolved  biologically,  251 
follows  intelligence,  254 
the     principle     universally 

applicable,  262 
works     despite    opposition, 

265 
bears  equally  on  all,  270 

"First  Principles"  of  Spencer, 
8 

Finality,  9 

Fission,  the  process  of  develop- 
ing organisms,  39,  106 

Formation,  of  types,  51 

Fertilization   and   growth   of   a 

cell,    '.4 
by  insects,  96,  97 

Fossils,  55 

Fossil     discoveries     since    Dar- 
win,   58 
and  their  significance,  58 


INDEX 


307 


Fauna  of  Australia,  60 

of  Galapagos,  61 
Frauuhofer,   the   spectroscopist, 

174 
Function,  what  it  is,  199 

illustration  of  it,  200  et  sq. 
Free  industrialism,  255 
Final  word,  280 

Genesis,  the  account  of 

creation  out  of  nothing,  14 
Germs,  eternal,  35 
Geology,     evidences     from     of 

evolution,  55 

Geographical  distribution,  60 
Galapagos  Islands,  fauna  of,  61 
Glacial  Epoch,  its  influences  on 

species,   63 

Girard,    Alfred   M.,    quoted,    90 
Generalizations,    how   produced, 

109 

Genius,  what  it  is,  114 
Gens,  defined,  252 
Great    Movement,    in    universal 

evolution,  257 

Humanism,   12 

Heat,  lost  by  condensation,   24 

Haeckel,  37,  quoted,  50 

Heterogeneousness,   38 

Huxley,  quoted,  59,  75,  138,  158, 

159,  172,  174 
Hybrids,   75 
Heterogenesis,   94 
Hunger,  what   it  is,   119 
Heredity,  132 
Human    law    must    conform    to 

natural  law,  154,  271 
Hume,  on  mentality  of  man  and 

animals,  177 
Hypnotism,  294 

Idealism,  7 
Intuition,  8,  16,  99 
Instinct,  8,  16,  99 

hereditary,    113,    117,    120 
and  intellect  differentiated, 

235 

Intellect  8,  as  treated  by  Ber- 
gan,  99 


Inorganic  matter  not  inert,   10 

Inorganic  evolution,  20 

Iron,  an  element  of  the  earth, 
27 

Insects'  mouths,  50 

Immigrants  to  the  United  States, 
why  they  come,  66 
how  improved,  64,  65 

Images,  on  the  brain,  111 

Immortality,   244 

Kant,  Emmanuel,  28,  29 

Kelvin,  Lord,  31 

Kingdoms,     animal    and     vege- 
table merge,  42 

Knowledge,   defined,   170 

confined  to  the  useful,  203 

Kirchoff,  the  spectroscopist,  174 

Keller,  Helen,  why  so  intelligent, 
193 

La   Place,   21,   28 
Life,  conditions  of,  26 

depends   on   the   inorganic, 
33,  34 

began  in  water,  34 

theory    of    origin    of    life 
forms,  34,  35,  36 

definition  of,  37 

distinctive  features  of,  105 

why   different   in  form,   52 
Lamarck,     conceived    evolution, 

40 

La  Conte,  Prof.,  56 
Loeb,  Jacques,  96 
Line  of  least  resistance,  133 
Language,      the      growth      of, 
186  et  seq. 

of  the  emotions,  230 

how  evolved,  286 
Light,  theory  of,  237 

Materialism,  7 

Mechanism,    8,    9 

Monism,  9,  11,  159 

Matter  and  motion,   9 

Movement  relative,  9 

Man,  not  reality,  but  manifesta- 
tion,  12 

only  a  family  in  order  of 
mammalia,  107 


308 


UNIVERSAL    EVOLUTION 


why  right   or  left   handed, 
115 

a   vertebrate   animal,    44 

anatomy   of   same    as   that 
of   anthropoids,   50 

his  distribution,   64 

his  relationship  to  environ- 
ment, 241 

power-  over  nature  limited, 
72 

how  differs  from  animal,120 

still  evolving,  150,  176 

his  behavior  compared  with 
animals,  179 

results  of  his  upright  posi- 
tion, 181 

a  natural  product,  246 

his   relation    to   his    fellow 

men,  249  et  seq. 
Mind,     evolved    entirely    along 
practical  lines,  13 

the     aggregation     of    feel- 
ings,   187 

defined,  19 

not   confined   to   man,    107, 
172 

produced  by  a  nervous  sys- 
tem,  107,  natural,  169 

not  confined  to   the  brain, 
187 

clearly    allied    to    physical 
features,  53 

its   evolution    materialistic, 
122 

its  traits  heritable,  123 

its  function,  157 

property  of  all  organisms, 
172 

depends  on  structure,  202 

mind  making,  189 
Movement,  the  reality,  18 
Moment  of  momentum,  22 
Motions  of  stellar  bodies,  25 
Meteors,  27 
Magnesium,   an  element   of  the 

earth,  28 
Moner,  37 
Metazoon,  39 
Mosphology,  48 
Morphogeny,  52 


Marsh 's  specimens  of  the  fossil 

horse,  56 
Missing  links,   56 
Method  of  evolution,  68 
Malthus '    ' '  Principle    of   Popu- 
lation," 69 
Mendelism,   100 

Mental  and  social  evolution,  105 
Molecular  motion  of  waves,  108 

its  nature,  157 

Memory,  how  produced,  111,  194 
Meyer,   Max,   quoted,   112,   115, 

122,  133,  184 
Misconceptions,  of  the  principle 

of  evolution,  139 
Mode  of  production,  determines 

reason,  146 
Metabolism,  158 
Macauley,  Lord,   quoted,   163 
Mill,  John  Stuart,  on  intuition, 

208 
Morgan,   C.   Lloyd,   quoted,  215 

Nothing  is  something,  9 
Nebulae,  immense  in  size,  21 
Nebular  theory,  21 
Nebula  of  solar  system  spiral, 

24 

Neptune  and  its  satellites,  30 
Nervous  matter,  106 

its    activity    exhausting    to 

the  body,  229 

Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  and  the  fall- 
ing apple,  202 

Nature,  makes  no  mistakes,  243 
Natural  Selection,  its  meaning, 

73,  74,  et  seq. 
illustrated,  79 
its  universality,  81 
it  develops  ethics  in  all  ani- 
mals, 84 

protective  features,  85 
a  negative  term,  87 
' '  survival    of    the    fittest ' ' 

better,  87 
not  a  conscious  conflict,  like 

a  battle,  144 

works    upon   mind   as    well 
as  matter,  107,  127 


INDEX 


309 


Origin  of  the  Universe,  14 

none    to    matter    and    mo- 
tion, 14 
of  species,  15 
of  organic  matter,  95 
Organic  evolution,  not  a  diver- 
sion from  the  inorganic, 
20 

followed  in  organic,  33 
Oxygen,  a  large  element  of  the 

earth,  27 

Organic  preservation,  160 
Objective,  the,  188 
Organisms    develop    from    egg 
cells,  36 

Philosophy,  schools  of,  7 

Physical  and  psychical  law  simi- 
lar, 10 

Paley's  illustration,  19 

Parallel  between  Nature's  and 
man's  works  not  apt,  19 

Phenomena,  the  multiplicity  of 

effects,  23 

manifestations  of  movement 
58 

Planetesimal  theory,   24,   26 
Similar  to  the  nebular,  24, 
25 

Potassium,  an  element  of  the 
earth,  28 

Protozoon,   39 

Paleontology,  55 

Pithecanthropus,   103 

Physical  and  psychical  phe- 
nomena one  in  reality, 
105,  176 

Protective  features,  85 

Protoplasm,  the  basis  of  life, 
106 

Psychic  phenomena,  168,  217 

Phrenology  too  local,  187 

Proctor,  Richard  A.,  as  to  lost 
consciousness,  224 

Pragmatism,  226 

Phenomenism,   291 

Reality,  or  thing-in-itself,  not 
useful  to  man,  13 


Radium,  31 

its  wonderful  power,  31,  115 
Rudimentary    organs,    valuable 

for  classification,  45 
carried    by    all    organisms, 

48,  49 
Romanes,  on  fossil  forms,  56 

on  environment,  132 
Reflex  arcs,  of  nerves,  110 
Rulers,      selected      by     natural 

law,   141 

Ritchie,   David   G.,  quoted,   170 
Race  differences,  195 

superiority    of    the    Aryan 

and  Semetic,  197 
Righteousness,  251,  253 
Reformation,  progressed  by  the 
progress  of  freedom,  256 
Religion,  evolution  of,  260 

a  universal  method  of,  262 
Reason,  limited,  127 

a  synthesis  of  images,  129 
arrested  reflex,  129 
how  it  must   act,   134,   142 
a  product  of  evolution,  143, 
194,  284 

Spencer's   mistake,  17 
definition  of  life,  37 
definition  of  an  idea,   159, 
190 

Sense  impressions,  19 

Sun,  part  of  an  original  nebula, 

22 

many  times  larger  than  the 
rest  of  solar  system,  22 

Silicon,  an  element  of  the 
earth,  27 

Sodium,  an  element  of  the 
earth,  28 

Spectroscope,  reveals  the  simi- 
larity of  formation 
throughout  the  universe, 
28 

St.  Hilaire,  conceived  evolution, 
40 

Schwann  and  Schleiden,  estab- 
lished cell  theory,  46 

Schultz,  Max,  the  basis  of  life  is 
protoplasm,  46 


Similarity  of  parts  in  ani- 
mals, 48,  50 

Scott,  W.  B.,  quoted,  59 

Special  creation  mentioned,  61, 
62 

Social  units,  subjects  of  evolu- 
tion, 66 

Selection,  artificial  different 
from  natural,  71,  72 

Special  forms  of  artificial  selec- 
tion, 74 

Sexual  selection,  82 

Spontaneous  generation,  94 

Selenka's  study  of  embryos,  103 

School  education,  benefits  of, 
112 

Second  childhood,  a  profound 
truth,  120 

Sleep,  how  caused,  125 

Society,  forms  of,  145 

Slavery,  came  with  commodities, 
149 

Survival,  of  human  laws,  152 

Social  evolution,  illustrated  by 
ancient  manuscripts,  154 
its  future,  277 

Superstition,  specimens  of,   161 

Subjective,    The^  188 

Shakespeare,  difference  between 
his  brain  and  the  lowest 
man,  191,  202 

Self,  206,  221,  222 

Smith,  Norman  Kemp,  on  con- 
sciousness, 223 

Self-consciousness,  227 

Structure  determines  difference 
between  brains,  234 

Smith,  Adam,  quoted,  on  rules 
of  morality,  267 

Thing-in-itself  not   practical  or 

desirable,  13 

Time,  a  change  of  forms,  18,  37 
Truth  is  what  works,  19 

is  relative  not  absolute,  203 
is  the  universe,  204 
Types,  formation   of,  51 
Tower 's    experiments    with   the 

potato  beetle,  74 
True  species  are  wild,  76 


Tissue,  its  renewal,  66 
Thought,    molecular    motion    of 

nerve  tissue,  114 
based  on  self-preservation, 

160,  230 

not  reasonable,  161,  214 
reproduction  of  sensations, 

168 
none     without     brain     and 

environment,  207 
always      accompanied      by 

physical  marks,   228 
Thompson,  J.  J.,  quoted,  differ- 
ence   between    him    and 
Bayson,  209 

Touch,  the  primal  sense,  can  be 
called  consciousness,  218 

Unknowable  Absolute,  8 
Uranus  and  its  satellites,  30 
Utility  of  investigation,  103,  104 
Unity  of  definitions,  239 
United  States,  an  example,  255 

Volcanism,    constantly    in    ac- 
tion, 10 

' '  Vital  Impetus, ' '  not  known,  18 

Von     Baer,     founder     of     em- 
bryology, 41 

Vegetable  and  animal  life,  com- 
pared, 42,  98,  106 

Von   Mohle,   named   protoplasm 
as  life  basis,  46 

Variation,  a  law,  .17 
adaptive,  59 
of  form,  92 

Vigor,  in  offspring,  78 

Yen  us 's  Fly  Trap,  118 

Vivi -section,       its       effect       on 
psychic  phenomena,  120 

Verworm,  Max,  quoted,  163 

Weissmanism,  39,  88,   100 
Wallace,  Alfred  R.,  40,  68,  150 
Whale,  The,  a  mamma],  44,  45 
Wilson,  E.  B.,  quoted,  86 
Webber,    Prof.,    on    Mendelism, 

101 

"Will",   129 
Wasp,  compared  with  man,  183 


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